ANAHEIM — The Angels aspire to one day be what the Dodgers have been.
In the meantime, they are doing the best they can to knock the Dodgers from their perch.
Logan O’Hoppe’s two-run single with two outs in the eighth inning capped a comeback from an early three-run deficit as the Angels beat the Dodgers, 6-5, before an Angel Stadium sellout crowd of 44,893 on Wednesday night.
The Angels (59-62) swept the Dodgers for the second time this season, and this time they knocked them out of first place in the NL West for the first time since April 27.
Losers of four straight games, the Dodgers (68-53) are now one game behind the streaking San Diego Padres (69-52), who are coming to Dodger Stadium for three games this weekend.
The Angels set a new franchise Freeway Series record by winning seven straight games against the Dodgers.
Former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen closed it out, pitching on a third straight day.
The Angels spoiled Shohei Ohtani’s first time on the Angel Stadium mound since he called it his home. The Angels scored four runs against Ohtani in 4⅓ innings. He had allowed only five runs in his first eight starts combined.
The Dodgers jumped to a 3-0 lead before Ohtani threw his first pitch, thanks to Will Smith’s two-run homer against Kyle Hendricks in the first inning.
The Angels came back to get within a run in the fifth, and then center fielder Bryce Teodosio preserved the deficit by robbing Andy Pages of a two-run homer in the seventh.
In the eighth, the Angels finally got the lead.
Left-hander Justin Wrobleski started the inning by walking Mike Trout and Taylor Ward. Right-hander Edgardo Henriquez then entered. The Dodgers got an out at third on a sacrifice attempt by Christian Moore.
Jo Adell then reached on infield single when his comebacker hit Henriquez and rolled onto the infield dirt.
Luis Rengifo struck out, bringing O’Hoppe to the plate as the final hope of the inning.
O’Hoppe hit a 103 mph fastball back through the middle for a two-run single, giving the Angels their first lead of the night.
Jansen then retired the Dodgers in order to end it, ruining a night the Dodgers might have figured would be a comfortable victory with Ohtani on the mound.
Ohtani wasn’t as sharp as he had been, but at least got the best of baseball’s first matchup of three-time league MVPs.
Ohtani, the only one of 12 three-time MVPs to be a pitcher, matched up twice against Trout. Ohtani struck out him out looking twice, once on a backdoor sweeper and once on a 101 mph fastball that nipped the corner.
They had famously met in the final of the World Baseball Classic in 2023, but that wasn’t a regular-season game and Ohtani had only won one of his MVPs at that time.
Otherwise, the Angels more than held their own against Ohtani.
The Angels got to Ohtani for two runs in the second inning. Ward hit a solo homer, his 29th of the season. Yoán Moncada followed with a double, and he came around to score on two fly balls.
In the fifth, Ohtani gave up consecutive singles to O’Hoppe and Teodosio, and then a two-run double to Zach Neto, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 5-4.
That was all for Ohtani, who reached a season-high with 80 pitches.
The Angels’ strong showing against Ohtani actually fit their pattern. This season they have been among the toughest opponents for a handful of aces. The list includes the Texas Rangers’ Jacob deGrom, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Ranger Suarez, the New York Mets’ Kodai Senga, the Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal and the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Monday.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Angels right fielder Jo Adell said the day before the Angels faced Ohtani. “It’s gonna be good. I’m glad that we get the opportunity. It’s just like everybody else we face, every frontline guy that we go up against. We’re gonna put our best foot forward and see what we can do.”