Dodgers final score: Mookie Betts 10th-inning homer beats Angels 6-2

After elite pitching carried this game into extras, Mookie Betts hit a three-run bomb in the 10th inning to headline the Dodgers 6-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday night in Anaheim.

However, it should be noted that Miguel Rojas had the go-ahead run to set up an opportunity for the top of the order. In an eventful 10th frame, Ron Washington found out the meaning of pick your poison against the Dodgers and this loaded top of the order.

After Rojas singled to drive in the ghost runner and moved to second on a ground out, the Dodgers had a two-out opportunity with Shohei Ohtani up. But with a righty on the mound, Washington wanted no part of the Dodgers’ designated hitter and intentionally walked him. The thing is, you escape one MVP and you just get another, Betts made sure to note that blasting a homer that put this game out of reach.

Back to how we got there with a tied game in extras. In a matchup in which a parallel between both starting pitchers heading into the game was quite discernible, interestingly enough, both carried out promising outings although Reid Detmers certainly at a tier or two above.

The Angels’ starter showed exactly what made him a top-10 pick and a promising starter in his first couple of seasons in the bigs, and did so against as tough of an offense as there is. Detmers ran into a bit of an issue in the third, primarily due to Shohei Ohtani’s 112.7-mph RBI triple and subsequent Betts knock, but those would be the sole two runs he’d allow.

While they made Detmers work for it, the Dodgers’ bats had more than their fair share of whiffs, 18 of them on 48 swings. Playing for nothing more than to see how they can get to the best version of guys like Detmers, the Angels pushed him a bit in his first start since returning to the bigs. Ron Washington sent his starter back out to complete the sixth inning reaching 100 pitches with 10 punchouts.

As the Dodgers broadcast alluded to at multiple points during the game, the Angels’ future lies heavily on how much they can get from guys like Detmers. It’s pivotal to obtain the best version of players with evident upside that, for one reason or another, aren’t delivering right now.

Walker Buehler, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as dominant as Detmers, but he did enough to keep the Dodgers in the game and matched his counterpart’s results through five.

Unlike Detmers, what Buehler did in for the two earned runs across five frames, was the long ball. Logan O’Hoppe and Taylor Ward hit out a cutter and fastball, both at nearly identical places out over the plate.

A knuckle curve that has been better as of late served as a nice weapon for Buehler, who struck out six in his five frames, his deepest outing since the end of May.

Part of what took this game to extra innings was the absolute gas coming out from the bullpen of both teams. Angels’ closer, Ben Joyce, had the fastest strikeout of the Statcast era, punching out Tommy Edman with a 105.5 MPH heater. A rested Dodgers’ bullpen was able to feature all of its primary weapons like Daniel Hudson, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech and Ryan Brasier, with each one holding up a zero.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Mookie Betts (15); Logan O’Hoppe (18), Taylor Ward (20)

WP —Michael Kopech (5-8): 3 up, 3 down

LP —Roansy Contreras (2-4): ⅔ IP, 2 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 1 walk

Up next

Another first-round Louisville product taking the mound on Wednesday night (6:38 pm; SportsNet LA, Bally Sports West). Bobby Miller will look to replicate some of the success Detmers had against the Dodgers. Griffin Canning starts for the Angels.