Last Night in Baseball: The Angels Apparently Cannot Lose to the Dodgers

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in Major League Baseball:

Angels sweep the Dodgers… for 2025

The Angels swept the Dodgers on Wednesday, but not just for the series. Los Angeles also swept, er, Los Angeles earlier in the season, and the two won’t meet up again in 2025: the Angels swept the entire season series against the Dodgers, and have actually won seven in a row against them dating back to last year.

The Dodgers were cruising, up 5-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, and Shohei Ohtani had thrown just 62 pitches — a season-high for Ohtani, but also still a low workload for his ninth start working back into form after Tommy John surgery. Los Angeles brought him back out for the fifth inning for the first time in 2025, and then things unraveled, fast. He struck out Luis Rengifo on five pitches, but then allowed back-to-back singles to Logan O’Hoppe and Bryce Teodosio. Now up to 77 pitches, Ohtani was left to face Zach Neto, and the result was a two-run double and his final hitter of the night.

The Dodgers would end the inning with the lead, and attempt to add to it in the seventh. No such luck, though, thanks to Teodosio’s glove. Andy Pages lifted a ball to right-center that was about to be a homer, at least until Teodosio came running in and called off Jo Adell.

Adell was there first, but Teodosio had the better angle on it since he was moving with the ball, so the two made the right call there. Robbing the Dodgers of two runs proved to be vital, as in the very next inning, the Angels loaded the bases, and O’Hoppe went to work.

That score would hold, and the Angels would win, 6-5. 

The Padres handled the Giants earlier in the day, 11-1, giving them a half-game lead that extended to a full game once the Dodgers lost, which is notable for that reason but also another: if — and this is still very much in “if” territory — the Dodgers do end up losing the division to Padres, it’s going to be difficult to look beyond getting swept for the year by a team that, even with those six wins, still isn’t even a .500 club. The injuries, sure, but Los Angeles accounted for that sort of thing in the offseason with their tremendous depth. Losing to the Angels — the Angels! — six times in six tries will be the kind of thing that can be pointed to in a specific and depressing way. 

Of course, the Padres and Dodgers meet up over the weekend, and then again next week, so let’s not count those San Diego Chickens before they hatch. 

Other than that fifth inning, Ohtani did have a pretty good day, at least. He struck out his former teammate Mike Trout all three times he faced him, and became the first pitcher since at least 1900 to lead off a game with a triple.

That the fifth was a disaster isn’t great, but that Ohtani could get to the fifth is still a step forward for him, and for the Dodgers.

Braves score 11 unanswered runs against Mets

The Braves have not been very good this year. That seems fair to say, at this stage of the season. One thing they have been pretty good at, though, is defeating the Mets. Despite being 52-68 for the season, Atlanta is 6-3 against their rivals from New York in 2025 following Wednesday’s victory, which also happened to come on a night that the Reds won, narrowing the gap between the two in the wild card race to a single game.

It didn’t look like things were going that way at first, as the Mets scored three runs a piece in the first and second innings, while the Braves were held scoreless until the fourth. Apparently they were just charging up their power levels, though, because Atlanta unloaded for nine runs in that frame to take a lead that they would not relinquish. Michael Harris II hit a grand slam that was the exclamation point on that rally, but before that happened Jurickson Profar hit a bases-loaded — and bases-clearing — three-run double. 

The Mets were held scoreless from the third inning onward, but it took more than just high-quality pitching from the Braves’ bullpen for that to happen. There was also this fantastic throw from Eli White in right field straight to Sean Murphy at the plate, which beat Pete Alonso home by three or four steps.

Introducing Jakob Marsee

The Guardians failed to capitalize on a Yankees’ loss on Wednesday, so they still sit a game back of the third wild card. The reason that Cleveland lost? An inability to stop Jakob Marsee.

The Marlins’ outfielder went 4-for-5 against Guardians’ pitchers on Wednesday, hitting a double, a pair of homers, piling up 11 total bases and 7 RBIs. Those 7 RBIs tied a franchise record, too.

Miami’s rookie is now batting .436/.542/.872 with three homers, six doubles, a triple, nine walks and six steals in just 13 games in the majors. Marsee has had serious offensive potential for a few years now, but the question was always whether he’d be able to produce at the higher levels. So far, so good on that note, and the sub-.500 Marlins are in a position to let him get as many reps as possible to prove whether he’s a significant bat in the bigs or not.

The Little League World Series is over there, guys

The Little League World Series is played in Pennsylvania and kicked off on Wednesday, but that doesn’t mean the Phillies needed to pay tribute to it with their defense here. 

Sometimes the ball is just cursed. It’s the easiest explanation. Brandon Marsh made a routine throw home, except he overshot JT Realmuto at the plate, causing the ball to bounce off of his mitt and get lost long enough for a rushed and off-target throw to third to be the only possible thing that could happen next. Toss that ball away and get a new one.

Maybe it was just the Phillies in general on Wednesday, though. They’d lose 8-0 to the Reds. At least this loss also hurt the Mets, Philly fans, since it let the Reds gain a game on them. No harm done, really.

Have a day, Ketel Marte

Ketel Marte was on one on Wednesday, picking up four hits against the Rangers along with four RBIs. No small thing in a game decided by just two runs. Which, by the way, is also how many runs what proved to be the game-winning hit drove in. Off the bat of Marte, even:

A three-run homer for his fourth hit of the game to put the Diamondbacks up 6-5, and then Andrew Saalfrank would come in and log his first save of the year to close things out. A tough loss for the Rangers, as they’re now back at .500 and sit 3.5 back of the wild card — they were so close to capitalizing on losses by both the Guardians and Yankees, but couldn’t seal the deal.

Caminero is on a heater

If you watched the 2025 Home Run Derby, then you already know that Junior Caminero has some serious power. That power isn’t just in batting practice exhibitions, however: he’s the real deal in-game, too. On Wednesday, the Rays’ slugger hit his six home run in his last seven games:

For the month of August, he’s batting .340/.360/.809 with seven homers, and .296/.330/.653 with 11 long balls since the All-Star break. Not everything in his game is where it needs to be just yet — his on-base percentage for the season is just .300, as he rarely draws a walk — but he also has 34 homers for the year despite the fact that it’s his first full season and he’s still all of 21 years old. 

Caminero is already a great hitter, but if he can learn to hit for a little more average or draw a few more walks, he’s going to be a stud. And there’s been a bit of that in the last month-plus in his game, so it might already be happening.

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