LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers had their best scoring inning in five years in yet another lopsided defeat of the Angels, 9-2 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
The first six Dodgers got hits off Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz, who retired only one of his eight batters faced. By the time he departed after 38 pitches, the Dodgers led 4-0 but the bases were still loaded. Alex Freeland reached on a fielder’s choice, and a throwing error by shortstop Zach Neto helped facilitate all three runners scoring
on the play.
Shohei Ohtani, who singled to open the frame, punctuated the inning with a two-run home run off Brent Suter, making it 9-1.
Nine runs is the Dodgers’ largest inning since scoring nine runs in the seventh inning against the Nationals in Washington D.C. on July 2, 2021. Their previous high this season was six runs in the fourth inning on April 25 against the Chicago Cubs.
That’s two straight games the Dodgers have scored nine runs in a game started by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who entered Saturday with the second-lowest run support on the staff, ahead of only Ohtani.
Yamamoto actually trailed by a run after the top of the first, when a two-out infield single was cashed in by an Oswald Peraza triple that was off the glove of a leaping Andy Pages in center field. Any misgivings about Pages not making the catch were washed away by his 394-foot home run into the Dodgers bullpen to give Yamamoto a 2-1 lead.
On the season, Yamamoto has allowed 23 earned runs in his 12 starts, with eight of them scoring in the first inning, his worst frame of the season with a 6.00 ERA. But he settled down and then some on Saturday. After the triple, Yamamoto retired 22 Angels in a row and completed eight innings on only 93 pitches in his longest outing of the year.
Yamamoto, who allowed three runs over his last four starts, has lasted at least seven innings a team-leading five time this season.
The Dodgers this season have beaten the Angels in all five meetings, outscoring the Halos 41-5.
Saturday particulars
Home runs: Andy Pages (14), Shohei Ohtani (11); Zach Neto (11)
WP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-4): 8 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts
LP — Jack Kochanowicz (2-5): 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 7 runs (6 earned), 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Up next
The Dodgers conclude their 2026 engagement with the Angels on Sunday afternoon (1:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, KCOP channel 13), with Emmet Sheehan on the mound against José Soriano.
