Dodgers & Angels Dealing With Accidents, However Trending In Totally different Instructions For Freeway Sequence First Since 2014
Both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels have been struggling with injuries lately, but otherwise the teams are trending in different directions ahead of the two-game Freeway Series that begins Tuesday.
For the first time since 2014, the Angels (41-33) have a better record than the Dodgers (39-33) at the start of their annual match.
From August 4 through August 7, 2014, the Freeway Series included four games played equally at Dodger Stadium and Anaheim. The Angels went into the game with a record of 66-44 while the Dodgers had a record of 63-49. LA was shut out in the Freeway Series opener but responded with three straight wins over the Angels.
This season it’s 11-3 Angels in June. Their hot streak dates back to avoiding a four-game series win over the Houston Astros with a win in the Finals at Minute Maid Park, despite the Angels recently putting Zach Neto, Gio Urshela and Anthony Rendon on the injury list.
Conversely, the Dodgers lost just 5-10 in June and are in a win over the San Francisco Giants that included a historic loss at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ troubles date back to the start of a series against the Minnesota Twins on May 15. Since then they are 13-18 and have lost six out of ten series.
The primary reason for the Dodgers’ unexpected slip was increasing injuries in the starting rotation and the inconsistent performance of the bullpen overall. The Dodgers’ pitching team has a 4.66 ERA, which ranks 25th in baseball and is the franchise’s lowest grade since 1944.
“I think looking back over that two-week period, there’s a lot of things that we just don’t do well and we don’t play clean baseball, we don’t play fundamental baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think it’s about not just winning, but focusing on the little things.
“Catching the baseball, minimizing walks, throwing to the right base, not getting thrown on the bases, making a pickoff play, these are things that haunt us over and over again. And we’re usually a lot better at that, and we haven’t been good for the past few weeks. Those are things we need to clean up.”
Dodgers fall behind in NL West standings
By defeating the Giants, the Dodgers slipped to third place in the National League West standings. The Giants extended their best winning streak of the season to seven games.
