Betts exits after HBP, Dodgers edge Angels following outage

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts exited early after getting hit by a pitch, giving the Dodgers a brief scare with the playoffs approaching, and Los Angeles beat the Angels 7-6 on Saturday night following a power outage in the ballpark.

Joc Pederson hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning shortly before the lights went out at Dodger Stadium. The Freeway Series resumed in the top of the seventh after a 25-minute delay.

“I panicked for two seconds, to be honest,” said Edwin Ríos, who was in the dugout. “It was dark and I couldn’t see anybody.”

Ríos quickly regained his composure and homered in the seventh, and Will Smith added a solo shot in the eighth, giving the NL West champions 116 homers to lead the majors.

The Angels closed to 7-6 in the ninth. Jahmai Jones was safe at first on a fielding error by Ríos at third base. Elliott Soto stroked a ground-rule double to deep right, putting Jones on third. Soto and Jones scored on David Fletcher’s double to left off Alex Wood.

Albert Pujols lined out to right, moving Fletcher to third with two outs. But then Shohei Otani grounded out to Adam Kolarek to end the game. Kolarek earned his fourth career save and first this season.

The game was already official, having completed five innings, and the Angels had been eliminated the night before, rendering the outcome meaningless. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it didn't qualify to be called because the the outage was not due to natural causes.

“It would have been a suspended game,” he said. “Then to pick it up where we left off tomorrow morning with a day game, we wanted to wait it out.”

The Dodgers led 3-0 in the first, when Angels starter Julio Teheran (0-5) needed 52 pitches to get through the entire nine-man lineup. Betts scored on a...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Betts-exits-after-HBP-Dodgers-edge-Angels-15600493.php