Keibert Ruiz homered in his first major league at-bat, Corey Seager hit a three-run homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Freeway Series with an 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Max Muncy had a two-run homer, Matt Beaty also homered and Mookie Betts added an RBI single for the NL-leading Dodgers (16-7), who have won a season-best five straight.
The Dodgers also swept a three-game series at Angel Stadium for the first time since interleague play began in 1997, although the Angels still hold a 70-57 overall lead in the rivalry.
Anthony Rendon homered for the fifth time in six games for the Angels, who have lost four straight. Brian Goodwin also homered and David Fletcher extended his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games, but the big-budget Halos have matched the slowest start in franchise history at 7-15.
Ruiz, a 22-year-old catcher from Venezuela, made his big-league debut behind the plate. In the third inning, he smashed a 1-1 fastball from Julio Teherán (0-2) down the right field line with his first big-league swing.
The homer in the mostly silent, empty stadium audibly delighted his new teammates, who dispatched pitcher Julio Urías to find the souvenir ball amid the tarps and empty seats.
Ruiz is generally ranked the third-best prospect in the Dodgers' perpetually bountiful farm system. He became the seventh player in the franchise's 131-year history to homer in his first at-bat, and the first since Garey Ingram in 1994.
Muncy added his two-run shot later in the third, and Seager connected off Matt Andriese for his fifth homer in the fourth.
Dustin May lasted only 4 1/3 innings for the Dodgers, giving up seven hits and two runs with two strikeouts on 88 pitches.
Scott Alexander (1-0) gave up three hits and a run over two innings.
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Teherán struggled again with his new team, yielding six hits and four runs in 3 1/3 innings. His ERA is up to 12.38 over three starts.
Rendon hit the sixth homer of his ascendant season leading off the fourth. Fletcher singled in the fifth, extending the Angels' longest hitting streak since 2017. Goodwin homered in the sixth.
WEIRD PLAY
Angels rookie Jo Adell saved a run in the second when he threw out Beaty at second base trying to stretch a long two-out single into a double. Edwin Rios had been on second, but he felt tightness in his left hamstring while running out his double, and he subsequently couldn't sprint from second to home on Beaty's hit, failing to touch home before Beaty was tagged out.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: Rios left the game in the bottom half of the second. ... Alex Wood was scheduled for a bullpen session Sunday. He made just one start before going on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation.
Angels: Slumping 40-year-old Albert Pujols sat out back-to-back games — the first time that’s happened when he was healthy during his nine seasons in Anaheim. The three-time NL MVP recently reached 659 homers to move right behind Willie Mays for fifth place in baseball history, but he’s batting .186.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: Ross Stripling (3-1, 3.97 ERA) takes the Dodger Stadium mound when they open a two-game interleague series against the Seattle Mariners, who counter with Justin Dunn (1-1, 4.85).
Angels: Griffin Canning (0-3. 4.42 ERA) takes another shot at his first victory when they open a two-game interleague series at home against the similarly struggling San Francisco Giants.
