Neither Scott Kazmir nor Jered Weaver had a good outing in today's 13-13 tie. The Los Angeles Dodgers' starter, Kazmir, lasted 1 2/3 innings, giving up five runs and six hits. Weaver matched his counterparts poor performance on the mound. The Los Angeles Angels ace went one inning longer while allowing the same number of runs and hits as Kazmir.
For Weaver, the former ace of the staff, his problem was the long ball. That started in the first when Joc Pederson hit a blast over the right field wall on the second pitch of the game.
The Angels, though, would respond in the bottom half of the inning. Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout continued their bright start to spring when both reached on a walk. Albert Pujols came up next and beat the shift by hitting a pitch straight up the middle to score Calhoun. Daniel Nava brought home Trout on a single before Andrelton Simmons did the same for Pujols. This gave the Angels a 3-1 lead after the first six outs of the game.
Weaver gave up his second home run in two innings when Austin Barnes cut the Angels lead from two to three.
But Kole, Trout and Pujols stayed active by continuing to hit Kazmir hard. Mike Trout clobbered a baseball deep into right field and got to third with ease, bringing in Calhoun. Albert followed Mike's lead as he blooped a single to center which allowed Trout to score from third.
The third inning, was perhaps Weaver's worst of the afternoon. It started out well as he retired two of the first three batters he faced. A passed ball, though, moved Pederson to second base. Adrian Gonzalez brought him in before Scott Van Slyke hit the Dodger's third home run to tie the game up at five. This ended Weaver's day on the mound as Mike Scioscia lifted him following a hit by Yasmani Grandal.
41-year-old veteran right-hander Jamey Wright struggled in his inning of work as well. The first two batters in Daniel Nava and Simmons reached base off of a single. Johnny Giavotella, despite grounding out, had a productive scoring Nava from third. On the next pitch, Wright threw one past his catcher allowing Simmons to come home.
The Dodgers would score seven runs between the sixth and seventh innings to take a 12-8 lead over the Angels. They did this by getting good, productive at bats. After Andre Ethier scored Rob Segedin in the sixth, Jack Murphy came through in the clutch. Murphy hit his first double of the spring and drove in two runs to level the game back up at eight all.
Four crossed home in the next inning to open up a five run lead while sending nine men to the plate. Barnes, Micah Johnson and Charlie Cluberson all chipped in with singles to center field. But yet, somehow, that was not enough. The Angels fought back and scored two of their own in the bottom half of the seventh.
The bottom of the last frame is where things got fun. Todd Cunningham and Nick Buss reached base thanks to some hard hit balls that found holes in the infield. Jeff Brandy then occupied the last remaining spot on the diamond after he got hit by a pitch. Then, one of the Angels best prospects in Roberto Baldoquin stepped up to the dish. He laced a double to deep center field which cleared the basses and tying things back up at 13.
These two sides will meet again on Friday afternoon. But before that, the Angels will face the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Oakland A's will be the Dodgers next opponents.