The Dodgers spring has officially come to an end, as they defeated the Angels 4-1 to capture an exhibition series win on Tuesday at Angel Stadium.
Dustin May was given the start for the Dodgers, with the plan to have him go a full five innings of work, similar to how they managed Tyler Glasnow in Monday’s game.
May got things going early in the bottom of the first inning, getting a three pitch strikeout of Taylor Ward, who led off Monday’s game with a solo home run off of Glasnow. He managed to work around a two-out walk to Mike Trout to complete a scoreless first inning.
The biggest issue for May was allowing two-out baserunners, as he put four men on with two outs over five innings of work. It became especially concerning in the bottom of the fourth inning, as May allowed a walk to Luis Rengifo and a single to Logan O’Hoppe to put the Angels on the board. May would finish the night having allowed just one run and one hit through five innings with six strikeouts, although he did allow two walks and hit two batters.
May finishes his spring with 10 innings of work, posting a 3.60 ERA with 12 strikeouts. His season debut will come on Tuesday Apr. 1 against the Atlanta Braves, and he’ll serve as the team’s no. 5 starter in the rotation to begin the season.
The Angels started the scoring off for the first two games of the series via a solo home run from Ward. This time, the Dodgers started the scoring with a two-run home run courtesy of Will Smith off of right-hander Jack Kochonwicz.
Tommy Edman thought he had a two-out double in the top of the second inning, but he completely missed the first base bag, which allowed the Angels to record the force out at first and end the Dodgers threat after the Smith home run.
Mookie Betts returned to action after having dealt with a stomach issue that caused him to miss the first two games of the series, and went hitless in three tries against Kochanowicz.
Old friend Kenley Jansen had better luck against the Dodgers in the series finale, recording a scoreless top of the eighth inning while adding a pair of strikeouts to his outing.
The Dodgers had just two hits through the first eight innings of Tuesday’s contest before minor leaguers Joe Vetrano and Sean McLain added a pair of hits in the top of the ninth inning. Vetrano would score on a wild pitch before Miguel Rojas plated McLain on a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a three run lead.
Up next
The regular season (in North America) will officially begin on Thursday (4:10 p.m. PT, ESPN), as the Dodgers host the Detroit Tigers for a three game series. Blake Snell makes his official Dodgers debut, while reigning American League Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal begins the season for Detroit.
