O'Hoppe leaves early, Angels suffer loss at the hands of Dodger home run derby

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Los Angeles Dodgers took a trip down the freeway looking to play against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday in the first game of the Freeway Series and while the Angels' bats went blank, the Dodgers' bats did quite the opposite. 

The Dodgers suffered a pitching shakeup after it was announced just hours before first pitch that Blake Snell, who was scheduled to start the game, was placed on the Injured List as the latest victim of loose bodies in the elbow.

As a result, the Dodgers threw a bullpen game, using eight different pitchers. While not the plan going into the game, the Dodgers clearly weren't hurt by the shakeup as they held the Angels to just two hits and no runs.

"Bullpen game, you get a different look every inning. I thought they swung the bats okay. Hit some balls hard, right at guys and nothing to show for it," Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. "It was tough tonight."

Dodger derby

The Dodgers came into the game with plenty of offense and it was all thanks to the long ball. All six of the Dodgers' runs came courtesy of home runs: Andy Pages and Max Muncy went back-to-back in the top of the fourth and Teoscar Hernández added on with a two-run shot of his own in the top of the sixth, all allowed by Angels starting pitcher Jack Kochanowicz.

Pages' home run was preceeded by a lengthy injury delay for Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe, who was in obvious pain after trying to dig at a pitch in the dirt from Kochanowicz. It was O'Hoppe's first game back since being activated off the Injured List due to a wrist fracture and it was clear the area was still tender.

The delay went on for several minutes and soon after, Kochanowicz delivered the fastball that Pages took over the fence. He didn't put all of the blame on the delay throwing him off his rhythm, but he didn't deny it as a factor either.

"That just sped up on me a little bit," Kochanowicz said. "I don't know really what happened, how long that really took in between. It seemed like an hour. But, just didn't execute the pitch."

Kochanowicz went through the first eight batters of the game with ease, even striking out Shohei Ohtani to start the game. But, that changed after Hyesong Kim singled his way on-base in the top of the third inning and after that Kochanowicz began to labor, eventually culminating in the three long balls.

"I just wasn't putting the ball where I needed to, in the bottom of the zone. That's a great lineup. They see the ball well. They tried to push me up in the zone and they did tonight," Kochanowicz said.

O'Hoppe's In and Out

The incident that caused O'Hoppe's injury seemed innocuous at first, but considering he was recovering from a fractured wrist, it was anything but.

He stayed in the game after the delay for another inning, but was eventually replaced by Sebastian Rivero in the top of the sixth, removed due to "left wrist irritation," per Angels PR. 

"It's just uncomfortable," O'Hoppe said of his wrist. "It's uncomfortable walking around. It's uncomfortable doing anything. But, we'll treat it and keep going."

Suzuki that O'Hoppe would be checked out after the game and that he was simply taken out of the game as a precaution, but he also said that the injury wasn't severe enough to warrant X-rays.