ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 The freeway series was supposed to feature a pitching duel Saturday night at Angel Stadium. Instead, it turned into a full-scale Dodgers demolition, powered by another statement outing from Justin Wrobleski and an offense that buried the Angels under relentless pressure in a 15-2 rout.<\/p>\n
For the Dodgers, this wasn\u2019t just another lopsided win over their crosstown rivals. It was another reminder that Wrobleski is no longer simply filling innings in a battered rotation, he\u2019s becoming one of the team\u2019s most dependable arms.<\/p>\n
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The 25-year-old left-hander delivered six strong innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking just one. More importantly, he stabilized a pitching staff that had been taxed heavily just one night earlier after the Dodgers used eight pitchers Friday.<\/p>\n
By the time Wrobleski walked off the mound after 103 pitches, he had improved to 6-1 with a 2.49 ERA and continued what has become one of the Dodgers\u2019 biggest developments of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt good,\u201d Wrobleski said afterward. \u201cI felt like I threw the ball really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
For five innings, the Angels<\/a> barely threatened him. Wrobleski attacked the zone early, mixed speeds effectively and kept the Angels from generating anything resembling consistent hard contact. Through five shutout innings, he had allowed just four hits while throwing 75 pitches.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Even when things got shaky in the sixth, Wrobleski showed the kind of poise the Dodgers desperately need from their young starters.<\/p>\n After the Dogers exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth inning, the Angels answered with three straight hits to open the bottom half. Zach Neto<\/a> singled, Jorge Soler<\/a> doubled and Jo Adell<\/a> ripped a two-run double to center to cut the lead to 6-2.<\/p>\n The inning had the potential to spiral.<\/p>\n Instead, Wrobleski regrouped immediately. He recorded a strikeout and induced two harmless fly balls to escape without further damage, preserving both the lead and the Dodgers bullpen.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Those outs mattered.<\/p>\n A night after the relief corps absorbed a heavy workload, Dave Roberts needed length from his starter. Wrobleski delivered exactly that.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth sides of the ball played great,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt was good to see our offense really come to life.\u201d<\/p>\n The offense eventually turned the game into a runaway, but the separation didn\u2019t happen until the sixth inning, and it came largely because Angels starter Jose Soriano<\/a> completely lost command.<\/p>\n For five innings, Soriano had matched Wrobleski pitch for pitch outside of a first-inning sacrifice fly from Will Smith<\/a> that scored Shohei Ohtani<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Then everything unraveled.<\/p>\n Soriano opened the sixth by walking Mookie Betts<\/a> and Freddie Freeman<\/a> before hitting Smith to load the bases. Andy Pages<\/a> drew another walk to force in a run. Max Muncy<\/a> followed with yet another bases-loaded walk. Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> was then hit by a pitch to bring home another run.<\/p>\n It was chaos.<\/p>\n