It’s the second half of the Freeway Series!

I checked my phone as I got out of a screening of Pixar’s BRAVE and did a little dance. The Dodgers, who just got swept by the Oakland Athletics, were up 5 – 0 on the Angels in the bottom of the second inning. The second inning! And Bobby Abreu had started the party off with a three-run jack on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. That’s magical. That’s more than the entire A’s series.

Well, whatever magic the Dodgers had imploded and definitely went away. Chad Billingsely blew a 5 run lead and the Dodgers eventually lost to the Angels 8 – 5. After a successful squeeze play on behalf of the Angels, Billz threw a pretty nice pitch down in the zone to Mike Trout. In case you were curious, Mike Trout is really, really good at baseball. He hasn’t had the hype that Bryce Harper has had going in, but he’s really going to be something special. Anyway, Trout blasted the ball into center field and that was pretty much that. The Angels would add on more runs but the Dodgers would fail to answer with anything for the rest of the game.

I really can’t wait until Matt Kemp comes back. I think that is going to be a big boost to the Dodgers lineup. There’s no timetable on Kemp and I think that’s for the best, too. He helped give the Dodgers a huge boost in their great record, and hopefully the Dodgers will continue to play at a .500 clip without him to maintain going into the All-Star Break.

I’m not the biggest fan of interleague mostly because I think it can be really detrimental to the standings that actually matter. You know, divisional standings? I’d rather have more games against the Giants or the Padres or even the Rockies. I understand the appeal of the Freeway Series, sure – two SoCal teams in the Los Angeles area (kind of) that both have “Los Angeles” in their name. Fine, I get it. But Anaheim is to Los Angeles like New Jersey is to New York. I’m actually reminded of Ted Mosby’s opinion of New Jersey.

Anyway, this game was something of an emotional roller coaster ride. Both teams nibbled away at each other, though admittedly it was mostly the Dodgers nibbling. See, the Dodgers scored their runs but then they also turned around and gnawed at themselves and made some boneheaded defensive plays.

I don’t know why Don Mattingly continues to start Adam Kennedy. I suppose he has to, and any decision regarding Kennedy’s status on the team will come from over Mattingly’s head (I’m looking at you, Colletti). While I don’t see Kennedy as a harbinger of the apocalypse as some Dodgers fans I associate with seem to, I do agree that is may be past time to find another option from the farm system while Mark Ellis (fingers crossed) recovers.

Anyway, in the bottom of the 8th, Dee Gordon got things started with a single. He then stole (and was called safe on a disputed call) on a 2-0 count (which my boyfriend thought was dumb, since there were 2 outs). AJ Ellis, King of the Walks, walked. Andre Ethier, bless his new fatty fat wallet, smoked a single into right field. And THEN, Juan Rivera, who has recently returned from the disabled list and generally speaking, has not inspired too much confidence with his performance, hit the ball into the Pavilion.

And just like that, 5-2 Dodgers.

Jerome Williams, oddly enough, was not lifted when Dre came up to bat. He was not lifted when Rivera came up to bat. He looked crushed in the dugout.

Mike Trout, who is really really really good at baseball, was 0-4 tonight.

The Dodgers are first to 40 wins.