LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers walked into Angel Stadium on Friday night carrying two vastly different emotions.
There was the gut punch that came hours before first pitch, when Blake Snell was scratched from his scheduled start and placed on the injured list with loose bodies in his left elbow. And then there was the response, a dominant, 6-0 victory over the Angels that showcased exactly why this team continues to find ways to win, no matter how chaotic the circumstances become.
At 27-18, the Dodgers have now won three straight games and, for the first time since September 2024, defeated the Angels in the Freeway Series.
For one night at least, the uncertainty surrounding Snell was temporarily drowned out by booming home runs and eight scoreless innings from a patchwork pitching plan that turned into a masterpiece.
The Dodgers hadn’t deployed a bullpen game since last postseason. On Friday, they turned one into a shutout.
Right-hander Will Klein got the emergency start and looked composed from the jump, tossing two scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out two on 32 pitches. From there, Edgardo Henriquez, Blake Treinen, Wyatt Mills, Kyle Hurt, Alex Vesia, Jack Dreyer, and Charlie Barnes combined to completely suffocate the Angels’ lineup.
The bullpen allowed only two hits all night.
Josh Lowe recorded the Angels’ first hit in the second inning. Zach Neto added the only other hit with a one-out single in the seventh. That was it.
“They did a fantastic job. All of them,” Dave Roberts said afterward.
Klein, suddenly thrust into an opener role with almost no notice, embraced the assignment.
“Really trying to go out there and put up as many zeros as you can,” Klein said.
For three innings, the game drifted quietly through a scoreless stalemate before the Dodgers detonated in the fourth.
Will Smith opened the inning with a single and Kyle Tucker followed with a walk. A wild pitch pushed both runners into scoring position, setting the stage for Andy Pages.
The breakout Dodgers outfielder crushed the fourth pitch he saw deep over Mike Trout’s head for a three-run homer that instantly flipped the game. Pages’ 10th homer of the season also gave him 38 RBIs, tying him once again for the MLB lead.
Before the Angels could even regroup, Max Muncy delivered another blow.
Muncy launched a solo homer immediately after Pages’ blast, giving the Dodgers back-to-back home runs and a 4-0 lead in a matter of moments. His 12th homer of the season continues to lead the team, and he and Pages are currently the only Dodgers hitters with double-digit home runs this year.
Just like that, a tense bullpen game turned into a comfortable Dodgers lead.
Teoscar Hernández added the finishing touch in the sixth inning with a two-run homer, his first home run in exactly one month. Hernández appears to finally be heating back up, going 9-for-19 with four extra-base hits over his last five games.
Shohei Ohtani, meanwhile, returned to Angel Stadium and back into the lineup after sitting out the previous two games. Though Ohtani finished just 1-for-4, his fifth-inning opposite-field double was another encouraging sign that he may be emerging from his recent slump.
Ohtani homered in his last game Tuesday against the Giants and followed it Friday with one of his hardest-hit balls in recent weeks.
The Dodgers needed every bit of positive momentum they could find after the devastating developments surrounding Snell earlier in the day.
The left-hander had only just returned last Saturday for his season debut on his bobblehead night against Atlanta, allowing four runs over three innings. Now, another setback has placed the future of the Dodgers’ rotation in flux once again.
Roberts confirmed pregame that Snell experienced discomfort while throwing Thursday.
“Anything is on the table,” Roberts said regarding possible surgery.
The Dodgers are still evaluating whether Snell will undergo a procedure to remove the loose bodies from his elbow, though Roberts remained optimistic that the two-time Cy Young winner will return at some point this season.
“We feel confident that he’s going to be back with us this year, either path,” Roberts said.
“At the end of the day, he’s gotta figure out what’s best for him and make that decision. In whatever way we go, I know we’ll support him.” Robert said.
The diagnosis immediately raises questions about how the Dodgers will handle the rotation moving forward. Roberts admitted the team may no longer have enough healthy starters to maintain a six-man rotation.
“Right now, I don’t know if we have six candidates,” Roberts said.
The Dodgers recalled left-hander Charlie Barnes to fill Snell’s roster spot, though no immediate replacement in the rotation has been finalized. River Ryan remains only “a slim possibility,” according to Roberts, as he continues building back up in Triple-A after a hamstring injury.
For now, the Dodgers will lean on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan and eventually Ohtani’s pitching progression while trying to stabilize a battered staff.
It’s not the position the Dodgers envisioned being in during mid-May.
But Friday night also served as a reminder of why they remain one of baseball’s most dangerous teams. Even amid another major injury blow, they still have enough firepower. and enough pitching depth, to dominate a rivalry game on the road.
The Dodgers now turn to Wrobleski for Saturday night’s matchup, carrying both momentum and uncertainty deeper into the Freeway Series.
