Hyun-jin Ryu, Dodgers cruise to Freeway Series win

Hyun-jin Ryu was great for seven innings and backed by an offense that stayed busy all night, leading the Dodgers to a 7-0 win over the Angels in Anaheim. The win gave the Dodgers a two-game series win on the road, their first series win in Anaheim since 2009, and with three wins in four games this week against the Halos the Dodgers have their first season series win against the Angels since 2006.

The third straight win for the Dodgers pushed their lead in the National League West to 3½ games over the Giants, matching their largest of the season.

Ryu faced the Angels once in 2013 and pitched a two-hit shutout. On Thursday night he looked to do even better, taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning until David Freese doubled with one out in the frame.

Ryu settled with two hits and one walk allowed in seven innings, plus a hit by pitch, to go with four strikeouts, his fourth start of seven scoreless innings this season. In two career starts against the Angels Ryu has allowed four hits and a walk in 16 scoreless innings.

On defense the Dodgers shined as well. They got multiple highlight-worthy plays from shortstop Miguel Rojas, starting at shortstop with Hanley Ramirez at designated hitter. Juan Uribe made a fantastic leaping stab of a line drive by Albert Pujols. But the highlight of the night came in the sixth inning, when the Angels put together their best scoring rally against Ryu.

With two runners on base and two outs down 4-0, Josh Hamilton drove a ball to deepest left center field. Yasiel Puig, shading Hamilton to pull, had a long way to run, but he got there to make the play, robbing the Angels of two runs.

On offense, the Dodgers came through by continuing to give themselves opportunities.

Entering Tuesday the team was the worst in the majors with the bases loaded, with just 11 hits in 71 at-bats, hitting just .155/.192/.211. But they opened the scoring with a two-run single by Ramirez with the bases loaded in the third inning, part of a three-run frame.

In the eighth, Adrian Gonzalez broke the game open with another two-run single with the bases loaded. On the night the Dodgers were 2-for-5 with three runners on, with four RBI. Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with a walk on the night.

Ramirez was 3-for-5 with a double, improving Dodgers designated hitters numbers to .325/.391/.525 with eight RBI in 10 games on the season. The Dodgers finished their interleague schedule 11-9, including 7-3 in American League parks.

Up next

The Dodgers move on to Milwaukee to open a three-game weekend series on Friday night. The newest Dodger, Roberto Hernandez will start the opener for Los Angeles, facing Kyle Lohse for the Brewers.

Thursday particulars

Home runs: none

WP - Hyun-jin Ryu (13-5): 7 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

LP - C.J. Wilson (8-8): 5⅔ IP, 6 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts