Dodgers beat Angels 6-2 but nobody likes the Dodgers anyway, so who cares?

Angels 2 Dodgers 6

So that’s how it’s going to be with this Freeway Series, huh? One amazing hype fest win, then a disappointment, then a walkoff that was crazier than a soup sandwich, which was followed up tonight with a mostly-futile effort and a series split. I guess it could have been worse, but that series win would have been pretty dang sweet.

The problem tonight was the same problem we all saw coming from a mile away, and that problem was Clayton Kershaw. He did what you’d expect from him, which is basically what he does every single outing, and that’s blow through lineups like a tornado. Kershaw went 7.0 innings, striking out 12 Angels batters, giving up only three hits and one stinkin’ run, which was off of a meager fielder’s choice.

J.C. Ramirez was his starting arm counterpart and Ramirez didn’t have quite the same night against the Dodgers as Kershaw did with the Halos. Ramirez reverted back to some ugly ways, giving up seven hits in just 5.2 innings and six runs allowed, five of them earned. Things really slipped away for Ramirez in the fifth, when he gave up two homers, one to Yasiel Puig and one to Chase Utley, and it slipped away even more, into baseball oblivion, when he gave up a three-run dinger to Joc Pederson.

The Angels were suddenly down 6-1 after six innings, and if they’d want to come back, they’d have to bust out some magic moves over the final innings. Well, they tacked on one more run, I’ll give them that, but they really just wasted some great opportunities in the eighth inning, but got nothing other than a big Luis Valbuena K and a near-grand slam from Martin Maldonado. So close, yet oceans away still. Baseball is brutal.

Baseball is also pretty silly, as evidenced by some chirping from Yunel Escobar after getting beaned in the eighth, which kept going long enough to have the benches do the slowest dugout emptying as possible. There were even Halos and Dodgers relievers running in from the bullpen, but not really a run, more a slow jog, and they were laughing and joking with each other. You’ve got to love the absurdity of these grown men going through the motions of some manufactured throwdown that everybody knows wont materialize.

That at least provided some entertainment on the tail end of this whole affair, but then it was pretty much put to bed after that, the Angels going down quick in the ninth and the 6-2 score means the Dodgers and Angels will split the Freeway Series this year. They can still be proud of looking damn good against a team that was undoubtedly the hottest group in MLB at the start of this set of games.

We had some memorable games, too. I’ll never forget last night, so let’s just be glad we saw some of that insanity, and there were other rad little moments, like Keynan Middleton K’ing Bellinger and then screaming “Not me boy!”, thus riling up the entire Dodgers fan base. I’ll take this result, if only because of those memories.

Now, keep it rolling, Halos. Keep it rolling.

#ToD