On an afternoon that saw plenty of hard contact at Tempe Diablo Stadium, a three-run fifth inning largely built on walks propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
As the second Angels relief to make an appearance, Luis Garica promptly gave up a hustle double to Cody Bellinger on a ball that found a hole in the shift. Bellinger then advanced to third base on a wild pitch, though it was negated in some regard as Garcia walked the next three batters faced.
The last of which was to Barnes, giving him a second RBI on the day and his team-leading ninth this spring. Daniel Castro’s two-run single extended the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2, and Garcia was removed after issuing a fourth walk. The right-hander retired just one of seven batters faced.
A.J. Pollock’s leadoff walk and stolen base in the sixth inning led to another run when he scored on Matt Beaty’s double play. The 6-2 advantage was more than enough for the Dodgers bullpen, with Dylan Floro, Scott Alexander, J.T. Chargois and Yordy Cabrera finishing out the game.
They followed in the footsteps of Pedro Baez and Tony Cingrani each throwing a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
The Angels’ two runs came against Ross Stripling in what was just his second start. Stripling stranded a Mike Trout two-out triple in the first inning but gave up an RBI double to Peter Bourjos followed by a run-scoring single to Kaleb Cowart in the second.
Stripling limited the Angels to the two runs on four hits, and struck out a pair in three innings. He exited with the game tied 2-2.
