Angels hope to build momentum with their first 3-game sweep of Dodgers since 2010

LOS ANGELES (AP) — If the Los Angeles Angels turn around their season, an improbable sweep of the Dodgers could be viewed as the turning point.

The last-place Angels beat the defending World Series champions 6-4 on Sunday, rebounding from a late-inning bullpen stumble when Travis d’Arnaud hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth.

“It’s tremendous,” said d’Arnaud, who also hit an RBI single in the third. “Every game here has felt like a playoff atmosphere. Everybody was passing the baton, having good at-bats up and down the lineup.

“It was just a dogfight every single game, high stress, and we prevailed in all three games. It’s really special against last year’s world champions. It’s very good for our confidence moving forward, knowing we can beat anybody.”

The Angels (20-25) remain last in the AL West, six games behind first-place Seattle. Their first three-game sweep of the Dodgers (29-18) since 2010 gave them at least a glimmer of hope that they can rebound into contention. The Dodgers had not been swept in a series since last July in Philadelphia.

The Angels bludgeoned Dodgers pitching in the first two games, batting .307 (23 for 75) with 17 runs, four homers and eight doubles. Zach Neto's solo homer and Taylor Ward's two-run shot off Tony Gonsolin staked left-hander Yusei Kikuchi to a 3-0, first-inning lead on Sunday.

Kikuchi pitched well enough to win, giving up one run and three hits, striking out seven and walking four in 5 2/3 innings before hurting his right ankle in a first-base collision with Tommy Edman.

Kikuchi departed with a 4-1 lead but had to settle for another no-decision after Shaun Anderson gave up a three-run homer to Will Smith that tied the score 4-4 in the seventh. Kikuchi is 0-4 despite a 3.50 ERA in 10 starts.

On an afternoon when Angels setup man Ryan Zeferjahn and closer Kenley Jansen were unavailable after pitching in each of the previous two games, Anderson assumed the role of both setup man and closer.

The 30-year-old right-hander, who has played for 10 different organizations since being drafted in 2016, retired the side in order in the eighth and ninth innings, closing the game with a strikeout of 2024 National League MVP Shohei Ohtani.

“He really saved us,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “When he came in (after the seventh inning), I told him this game was his. And he went out there and did a good job and ended up getting Ohtani for the last out of the game.
We needed him to do exactly what he did — give us that length — and he did it.”

Anderson (1-0) was credited with a blown save and a win for bullpen that entered Sunday with a major league-worst 7.04 ERA.

“To come in here and sweep them, it kind of shows what the Angels have, you know?” Anderson said. “It’s kind of hard to see with our record, but these guys put in the work every day, the preparation, the postgame work, getting to the yard early and hitting. … These guys want to win, and you can totally see it when you walk into the clubhouse. To see us rally and win the last three games, it just shows what we can do here.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Los Angeles Angels catcher Travis d'Arnaud, left, and starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi congratulate each other after the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Angels' Travis d'Arnaud, right, is congratulated by third base coach Bo Porter after hitting a solo home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani holds his elbow guard in his mouth after hitting a single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Angels' Travis d'Arnaud gestures after hitting a solo home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

A massive outage knocked out power to 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco on Saturday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said.

The power failure left a large swath of the northern part of the city in the dark, beginning with the Richmond and Presidio neighborhoods and areas around Golden Gate Park in the early afternoon and growing in size.

PG&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cause of the blackouts. The outage represents roughly one-third of the utility company's customers in the city.

Social media posts and local media reported mass closures of restaurants and shops and darkened street lights and Christmas decorations.

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said on X there were “significant transit disruptions” happening citywide and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat down traffic signals as four-way stops.

The city's transportation agencies said they were bypassing some Muni bus and BART train stations because of the power outages.

At least some of the blackouts were caused by a fire that broke out inside a PG&E substation at 8th and Mission streets, fire officials posted on X at about 3:15 p.m.

At about 4 p.m., PG&E posted on X that it had stabilized the power grid and was not expecting additional customer outages. The company said it was unable to confirm if power would be restored by later Saturday.

FILE - A Pacific Gas & Electric sign is displayed on the exterior of a PG&E building in San Francisco on April 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)