LOS ANGELES — Travis d’Arnaud picked a good time to hit his first homer with the Angels.
The veteran catcher hit a tie-breaking homer in the top of the eighth to push the Angels to a 6-4 victory over the Dodgers on Sunday, completing an improbable sweep in the Freeway Series.
The Angels last swept the Dodgers in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium in June 2010. They swept a two-game series in July 2019.
The Dodgers (29-18) had not been swept in any series since last July in Philadelphia. They hadn’t been swept at home in a series since June 2023 by the San Francisco Giants.
D’Arnaud’s homer came shortly after Dodgers catcher Will Smith tied the game with a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. The Angels added an insurance run against Luis Garcia in the ninth.
The Angels (20-25), who hadn’t swept a series this season, managed to hold the lead through the final six outs, after d’Arnaud’s homer, despite being without closer Kenley Jansen. Jansen was unavailable after pitching on Friday and Saturday.
Right-hander Shaun Anderson, who gave up the homer to Smith, stayed in the game to pitch the final two innings.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi gave up one run in 5⅔ innings, eventually leaving after he was tangled up in a first-base collision with the Dodgers’ Tommy Edman.
Kikuchi, who had thrown 98 pitches at that point, had little trouble with the Dodgers for the first four innings. In the fifth, he gave up an RBI single to Shohei Ohtani, then loaded the bases with two walks. Kikuchi escaped by getting Freddie Freeman on a fly ball to left.
Kikuchi lowered his ERA to 3.50 after his 10th start of the season. Kikuchi was in line for his first victory of the season until Smith’s homer.
Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin appeared to have a blister issue a few pitches into the game, after giving up Zach Neto’s third leadoff homer of the month. A few batters later, Gonsolin grooved a 2-and-0 fastball to Taylor Ward, who hit a two-run homer to straightaway center. It was the 12th homer of the season for Ward, who is 9 for 28 (.321) with four homers in his last seven games.
Gonsolin, who walked five, needed 97 pitches to get through four innings.
The Dodgers’ bullpen kept the Angels down until d’Arnaud’s homer against Anthony Banda.
More to come on this story.
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