Shohei Ohtani provides LA Angels with much-needed damage control against Dodgers

On Wednesday night, the LA Angels struggled to get their offense going against the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 1-4 loss to the crosstown team. They only scored that one run in the entire series.

What would have been worse, however, is if Dodger Starting Pitcher Tyler Anderson finished what he started on Wednesday--which was a no-hitter. With one out in the ninth, he had just retired Mike Trout. The clock was ticking when it came to the Halos getting their hit to break up the no-no.

Up to the plate came Shohei Ohtani, and he broke it up with his first triple of the season. Ohtani led the Majors in triples last year, but was yet to hit one this year. The triple bolted his slugging percentage up to .485. He now is up to an .820 OPS on the year.

Shohei Ohtani's triple for the LA Angels sent Anderson out of the game.

Anderson threw eight and a third against the LA Angels while only walking two and striking out eight. Anderson hit Jared Walsh, and a couple of batters reached base on error, but Shohei Ohtani was the only one to get one to drop. Matt Duffy ended up getting a hit to drive Ohtani in right after ShoTime's extra-base knock.

That marks Ohtani's 42nd run of the season. ShoTime's offense has re-surged in a major way as of late, but he needs a strong supporting cast as well. With Anthony Rendon out with an injured wrist; somebody needs to step up.

The Angels are now 29-35 on the year, and 10.5 games back of first place in the AL West (Houston Astros). They're 5.5 games out of the third and final Wild Card spot (Boston Red Sox). The team has now lost 18 of their last 20.