LOS ANGELES (AP) — Backup catcher Sebastián Rivero went 5 for 5 with six RBIs to lead a 13-for-15 performance by the bottom four batters in the order, propelling the Los Angeles Angels past the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-5 on Sunday to avoid a season sweep.
The NL West-leading Dodgers won five of six games in the Freeway Series, outscoring the Angels 46-18. Last year, the Angels went 6-0 in the season series before the Dodgers went on to win their second straight World Series championship.
The Dodgers didn’t get an out against the last four Angels batters, who combined for 10 runs and 10 RBIs, until No. 6 hitter Jo Adell struck out against reliever Kyle Hurt in the eighth. Adell was 4 for 5 with a two-run homer in the seventh and scored four times.
Angels starter José Soriano (7-4) allowed five runs — four earned — and eight hits in six innings while striking out two.
The Angels salvaged a victory with no help from slugger Mike Trout, who was 0 for 13 with six strikeouts in the three-game series.
Instead, the bottom of their lineup came through, led by No. 9 hitter Rivero. Nick Madrigal, the pesky No. 7 hitter, drew three walks while seeing 32 pitches in his first three plate appearances before singling in a six-run seventh. No. 8 batter Jose Siri went 3 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs.
The Angels led 6-1 before the Dodgers closed to 6-5 on back-to-back homers by Dalton Rushing, who had a three-run shot, and Ryan Ward in the sixth. Rushing finished 4 for 4 and came up a triple short of the cycle.
One inning later, the Angels batted around in scoring six runs off Jonathan Hernández, including Zach Neto's three-run homer that chased the reliever.
Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan (3-3) was pulled after 49 pitches, including 35 in the second. The right-hander gave up two runs, three hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings.
The Angels took a 2-0 lead when Rivero blooped a two-run single in the second. His two-run single off reliever Blake Treinen against a drawn-in infield extended it to 4-1 in the fourth.
Angels LHP Sam Aldegheri (1-0, 2.45 ERA) starts Monday's series opener against visiting Houston after being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake.
After an off day, Dodgers LHP Eric Lauer (2-5, 5.74 ERA) starts Tuesday on the road against Pirates RHP Paul Skenes (6-5, 3.09).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani scores on a ground out by Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker (not shown) during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan (80) is pulled from the game by Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts (30) during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher José Soriano delivers to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Pyongyang on Monday for a rare state visit that experts say is likely meant to reassert China’s unique influence over North Korea in return for providing economic and political benefits.
During a two-day trip, his first visit to North Korea in seven years, Xi is to meet leader Kim Jong Un. It will be their first summit since September, when they met in Beijing after viewing a military parade alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders.
China's official Xinhua news agency reported that Xi had arrived in Pyongyang, after earlier reporting that Xi's entourage includes his wife Peng Liyuan and top officials including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and top Communist Party official Cai Qi.
No specific agenda has been mentioned. Foreign experts predict the meeting will have big ramifications on bilateral ties and beyond, as they both seek to fully restore their traditional alliance in the face of separate confrontations with the U.S.
“A Chinese leader doesn’t just visit North Korea because a visit is due. Xi’s trip will have real implications for China-DPRK relations,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, using the abbreviation for North Korea’s full name.
Xi’s trip comes after his back-to-back summits with U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin in Beijing last month. Xi is expected to meet Trump again on a planned U.S. visit in September.
Xi will try to demonstrate China’s “sway over the Korean Peninsula” and “a leadership role in entire Northeast Asia in the ages of strategic competitions with the U.S.,” said Kwak Gil Sup, the head of One Korea Center, a website specializing in North Korea affairs.
China has long been North Korea's economic lifeline and main diplomatic backer. Experts say China has avoided fully enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea and sent clandestine aid to help its impoverished neighbor stay afloat. This year marks 65 years since the two countries signed a mutual defense treaty.
But there have been questions about their ties in recent years, with North Korea prioritizing cooperation with Russia by supplying troops and weapons to support its war against Ukraine. In return, North Korea has received economic and military assistance from Russia.
Restoring an exclusive influence over North Korea would give Xi a leverage in dealings with Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his desire to restart diplomacy with Kim, experts say.
“Implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions and enforcing sanctions do not appear to be priorities for China," Easley said.
In an article published on the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper Monday, Xi said China and North Korea must boost strategic cooperation and work together to oppose “hegemonism and coercive politics” and pursue an orderly multipolar world.
Xi would likely offer Kim economic aid packages such as shipments of rice and fertilizers, a resumption of Chinese group tourism to North Korea. and joint economic projects, analysts said.
“North Korea can’t solely rely on Russia. It needs to align with China,” Kwak said.
In a Monday editorial, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper called Xi “the most honored state guest,” saying Pyongyang’s streets “are filled with an atmosphere of friendship.”
Xi could also refrain from pressing Kim on the issue of denuclearization of North Korea, and vaguely speak about peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. That would be essential for Kim, who is desperate to win international recognition as a nuclear weapons state as a way to call for lifting of U.N. sanctions on North Korea.
“Chinese officials have taken the position of not speaking publicly about denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula while still maintaining it as a long-term goal. Kim appears to want Xi to accept North Korea as a nuclear neighbor,” Easley said.
After last month’s summit between Trump and Xi, the White House said the two leaders confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea. But China only said the leaders discussed the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. On Sunday, Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, dismissed as “false information” the U.S. readout of the Xi-Trump meeting.
Last week, Kim unveiled a new plant to produce nuclear ingredients and vowed to bolster the country’s nuclear forces “at an exponential rate.” He also observed sea trials of a new naval destroyer and called for speeding up efforts to build a nuclear-armed navy.
On Sunday, Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, echoed her brother, calling a U.S. push for the denuclearization of North Korea an “escapist and anachronistic dream.”
Kim Jong Un has rebuffed U.S. and South Korean offers for talks and focused on enlarging and modernizing his nuclear arsenal since his high-stakes diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019. The North Korean leader said in September that he still had "good personal memories” of Trump but urged the U.S. to withdraw its demand for North Korea to denuclearize as a precondition for resuming diplomacy.
Experts say Kim would eventually want arms reductions talks with the U.S. to win concessions in return for partially surrendering his nuclear weapons.
FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping walks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, to a reception following a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
FILE - People watch a large screen showing an image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Pyongyang Railway Station in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, June 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, Russian President Vladimir Putin, from left, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walk to attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
