Los Angeles Angels @ Los Angeles Dodgers (9/26/20) — Final: LAD 7,

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The Los Angeles Dodgers win another high scoring affair, and defeat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 7-6.

Tony Gonsolin, fighting for a postseason rotation spot, pitched an easy first frame. Julio Teheran, replacing the scratched Dylan Bundy, hit Mookie Betts in the ribs to put the leadoff man on. With a noticeable limp, Betts was removed from the game. It was later announced during the fourth inning that it was precautionary, and “he is ok.” Justin Turner singled the opposite way, extending his on-base streak to a very impressive 30 games, and Teheran walked Max Muncy to load the bases. After falling behind in the count, Cody Bellinger battled and worked a nine-pitch walk to bring home the game’s first run. Will Smith poked a single to score another, and Joc Pederson grounded into a fielder’s choice to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. Once the inning finally ended, Teheran had thrown 52 pitches in 38 minutes. Gonsolin struck-out a pair in a perfect top of the second, and Jacob Barnes did the same in the bottom half. In the third, three straight base hits got the Angels on the board, and Jared Walsh tied the game moments after with a two-run triple. Albert Pujols’ sacrifice-fly gave the Halos the edge, 4-3. Cody Bellinger doubled in the home half, but he was left stranded. Gonsolin allowed two singles in the fourth, but managed to escape unscathed. In LA’s half, AJ Pollock reached 2nd on a base hit plus a throwing error. Kiké Hernàndez also singled, putting runners at the corners, but Corey Seager grounded into an inning-ending double-play. Gonsolin erased David Fletcher’s knock with a double-play ball in the fifth, and the Dodgers hit the ball hard offensively, but went down in order. Gonsolin had two punch-outs before completing a perfect frame in the sixth. His day concluded at that point, closing the book on a spectacular regular season. Isolating the rough fourth, Gonsolin was very good tonight and continued to show some promising stuff. His final line: 6IP, 4ER, 7H, 0BB, 6K. Gonsolin, earning the victory, improved to a 2-2 record and finished with an ERA of 2.31. Smith led-off LA’s turn with a walk, and Pederson went opposite-field with authority, a sharp line-drive, for a two-run home run to flip the script and give the Dodgers the advantage, 5-4. Prior to the start of the seventh, Dodger Stadium’s power went out. As the lights slowly awakened, players sat out and appreciated the scene. It was nearly a half hour before the game resumed, and Joe Kelly entered once it did. He got the first two-outs quickly, but then walked a batter and allowed an infield single. Kelly responded with a strike-out of Walsh to get out of the plight. Pinch-hitting for Turner to get him off his feet, Edwin Ríos hit a solo home run thanks to the ball bouncing off of Jo Adell’s leaping glove and over the wall. Now up 6-4, Alex Wood came on to pitch the eighth, and he worked around a one-out walk. Smith began the bottom frame with a solo shot, making it 7-4. Wood remained in for the ninth and got Adell swinging for the first out. A fielding error by Ríos, followed by a double, then brought the tying run to the plate. Fletcher continued the rally by lining a double to score a pair, cutting the Angels deficit to one. Unable to get the job done, Wood was relieved by Adam Kolarek. With the help of a great running catch by Hernàndez, Kolarek got the second out, but Fletcher advanced to 3rd. Kolarek displayed his defensive prowess by fielding a sharp comebacker to strand the tying run 90 feet away and end the ballgame.

The boys in blue hold on and win their magic number 42nd game of the season. They clinch the series victory over their cross-town “rivals,” and will close out the regular season tomorrow. Dustin May, originally scheduled to be the starter, will be the bulk reliever. An opener is yet to be announced; however, Brusdar Graterol is a likely guess. The Angels, also yet to announce a starter, help make up the description of tomorrow’s game: honestly pretty meaningless. With the Dodgers already the #1 seed, and the Halos out of playoff contention completely, tomorrow will be a battle of the backups. It will be an interesting and entertaining watch. 12:10pm first pitch. Go Dodgers!