Photo by Robert Fulton
The Anaheim portion of the regular-season Freeway Series is set to begin Monday evening with Shohei Ohtani scheduled to make his first pitching appearance at Angel Stadium since Aug. 23, 2023 in Wednesday’s series finale.
The Angels swept the three games at Dodger Stadium, May 16-18, increasing their lead in the official series that began in 1997 to 78-73, including a 43-30 record in Anaheim.
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a 2025 All-Star Game selection, is scheduled to start for the Dodgers Monday. Fellow right-hander Jose Soriano is set to start for the Angels.
Yamamoto is 10-7 with a 2.51 ERA and has allowed one run in his last 15 2/3 innings. The Dodgers are 13-9 in his 22 starts in 2025. Yamamoto has never faced the Angels in his two seasons in the majors.
Soriano is 7-9 with a 4.01 ERA, including a 1-4 record and 4.91 record in his last six starts. The Angels are 10-14 in his 24 starts in 2025. Soriano has never faced the Dodgers or Ohtani in his three-season MLB career. He and Ohtani were teammates in 2023.
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Ohtani enters Monday’s play leading MLB with 111 runs, 19 more than runner-up Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. Ohtani is tied for second in home runs, with his 41 matching Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, four behind Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh.
Ohtani is second behind Judge with a .620 slugging percentage. Judge has a .691 slugging percentage.
The Dodgers (68-50) lead the National League West by two games over the San Diego Padres (66-52). Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays dropped them a half-game behind the Phillies (68-49) in the race for the second of two NL Wild-Card Series byes.
The Angels (56-52) are fourth in the five-team American League West, 10 games behind the division-leading Houston Astros and six games behind the Yankees in the race for the third and final American League wild-card berth.
The Dodgers’ broadcast of the 6:38 p.m. game will be on SportsNet LA, while the Angels’ broadcast will be on KCOP-TV Channel 13, also known as Fox 11 Plus.
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