Shohei Ohtani found himself at the center of nearly every twist in Tuesday night’s thriller — lining into a rare triple play in the sixth, then smashing a go-ahead homer in the ninth — yet it was Jo Adell’s walk-off single in the 10th that sealed the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The defending World Series champions dropped their third straight, slipping into a first-place tie with San Diego atop the NL West.
Ohtani briefly put the Dodgers ahead 6-5 with his NL-leading 43rd homer, launching a Kenley Jansen cutter into the stands for his fourth straight game with a long ball. Statcast measured the blast at 114.8 mph off the bat — his fifth homer in six games — giving him the edge over Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber and extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
Earlier, Ohtani had been on the wrong end of the eighth triple play in Angels history. Shortstop Zach Neto snagged his line drive up the middle, stepped on second to double off Miguel Rojas, then fired to first where Nolan Schanuel caught Dalton Rushing off the bag.
The Angels clawed back in a tense ninth inning. Luis Rengifo singled and scored on Schanuel’s sacrifice fly to tie it, but Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius (7-5) escaped further damage by striking out Taylor Ward with the bases loaded.
After Connor Brogdon (3-1) delivered a spotless top of the 10th, Christian Moore dropped a bunt single to move Ward to third. Adell then sent a high chopper past the Dodgers’ drawn-in infield for the game-winner.
Rushing hit his second homer for the Dodgers, who have dropped all five matchups against the Angels this season. The loss also marked the first time since June 13 that they’ve shared the NL West lead, as San Diego notched its fourth straight win in San Francisco.
Ward added his 28th homer and drove in two runs for the Angels.
Up next: Ohtani (0-0, 2.37 ERA) takes the mound Wednesday at Angel Stadium against Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.63).
