Los Angeles

Dodgers

Freeman collected the 2,500th hit of his career with a run-scoring single to center field, doing so during the Dodgers’ 10-run seventh inning in which 15 batters came to the plate. The 36-year-old first baseman is the majors’ active leader in hits and the first to reach the milestone since Robinson Canó in 2019. He’s in the middle of an extended hot streak at the dish, batting .345 (20-for-58) with four homers and 13 RBI over his last 15 games.

After surrendering back-to-back home runs in the opening inning, Lauer settled into a comfortable rhythm, retiring 15 of the final 16 batters he faced. He struck out five and didn’t hand out a free pass. The 31-year-old southpaw was long gone by the time Los Angeles erupted for 10 runs in the seventh inning to pull away for an easy win. He’s allowed two earned runs or fewer in all three of his starts since joining the Dodgers’ rotation back on May 26. He’ll face the Rays in a home matchup on Monday.

Muncy made it back into Los Angeles’ lineup for a pair of contests against the Angels over the weekend. The positive news is that he doesn’t appear to be dealing with any linger effects from a brutal on-field collision at first base with Ildemaro Vargas last Thursday.

Smith will miss his third straight game while dealing with stiffness in his neck. He’ll sit with Dalton Rushing earning another start behind the plate in Smith’s absence.

Early April’s biggest surprise, Rushing had been very quiet these last seven weeks. With the bat, anyway. However, he was able to get a second straight start today with Will Smith ailing and took advantage of it with his first homer since Apr. 20. He had been 9-for-51 with one RBI since the beginning of May.

Kelly had a 5.14 ERA and a 22/19 K/BB in 21 innings out of the pen for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season. Unfortunately, that’s a pretty common walk rate for Kelly, which is why he’s yet to pitch in the majors despite being added to the Rangers’ 40-man roster after the 2023 season and getting claimed off waivers by the Rockies in July 2024. He figures to remain in Triple-A with the Cubs.

This was Nick Madrigal’s doing. He saw 14 pitches and got two strike threes overturned on his way to a walk with one out in the inning. Another walk and a two-run single followed, and Sheehan was lifted after throwing 35 pitches to get just one out in the frame. Fortunately, Edgardo Henriquez stranded both runners from there, so Sheehan ended up allowing just the two runs in 1 1/3 innings. Obviously, it’s not the kind of outing anyone was looking for from him today, but at least it didn’t do much damage to his ERA. He’s due to face the White Sox next weekend.

It’s a planned day off for both Betts and Andy Pages, so no need for fantasy managers to worry here. Miguel Rojas will start in his place at shortstop and will bat eighth against Angels’ right-hander Jose Soriano.

Smith was scratched from Saturday’s lineup due to stiffness in his neck. The expectation was that he was going to return to action on Sunday, but manager Dave Roberts wanted to give him an extra day to make sure that he gets right. Dalton Rushing will start behind the plate once again on Sunday afternoon.

Ohtani started the first inning with a single and scored on a two-run homer by Andy Pages. The Dodgers would hit around the order in the frame, putting up nine runs, including a two-run homer by Ohtani. The 31-year-old star is up to 11 homers while slashing .300/.417/.524 with 43 runs scored, 35 RBI, and six steals across 279 plate appearances.