The Los Angeles Angels didn’t have a lot of great wins this year, but you can’t say the Angels didn’t crank it up when they played their cross-freeway rivals. The Angels actually swept the Dodgers in their six-game season series, and Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com selected one of those wins as the Halos best victory of 2025.
It’s hard not to be impressed, regardless of how cynical you are about the Angels and their season. The Toronto Blue Jays, for instance, would probably give up an assortment of body parts for just one more win against the Dodgers, but the Angels won consistently against their rivals, and they came from behind in the specific game Bollinger chose.
It happened on Aug. 13, and the highlight moment happened with the Angels down a run, 5-4 going into the eighth inning. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe delivered the game-winning hit, a two-run single off Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez before a sellout crowd at Angels Stadium.
Former closer Kenley Jansen, who has since signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent, then threw a scoreless ninth against shortstop Mookie Betts, first baseman Freddie Freeman and catcher Will Smith to preserve the victory.
"It was a lot,” O’Hoppe said when asked about the hit after the game. “It's one I've wanted for a while. Obviously, the past couple months haven't felt right. And I felt like after I fouled that heater back, I don't want to say it clicked again, but I got a wave of confidence that I haven't had in a couple weeks. I got a pitch to hit and I’m happy I got it.”
The rest of the season series against the Dodgers also had some highlight moments. The Freeway series included the Angels first matchup against old friend and two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, but the Angels had his number as Ohtani gave up four runs in 4-1/3 innings, which was the most he’d given up during the season at that time.
"They still won the World Series, but for us, it was awesome for us to be able to do this against them,” said Taylor Ward, who set a club record with four homers against the Dodgers this year.
Ward, of course, has since been traded to the Baltimore Orioles for starter Grayson Rodriguez, and the Angels still need to replace him in left field. But games like this provided occasional reminders of what the Halos can do when they’re up for the task, and hopefully fans will get to see more of them this year.