Sebastián Rivero arrived Sunday with two RBI on the season. He left with five in one game, a career-high four of them coming in the Angels’ 13-5 rout of the Dodgers, a lopsided finish to the Freeway Series that turned on a breakout night from a player who had barely driven anyone home before.
The Angels had Rivero to thank for opening the gap early. He singled up the middle in the second inning to give Los Angeles a two-run lead, then struck again in the fifth when he reached out on a 1-2 sweeper and dunked the ball just over the head of Alex Freeland. That hit pushed his RBI total for the game to four, and he added another knock and another run batted in later to finish with five.
That output mattered because the Dodgers could not keep pace even after getting some power of their own. Dalton Rushing homered in the fourth inning, Ryan Ward followed with his second big league home run in the same frame, and the Dodgers finished with five runs. It still was not enough to keep the game close, and the Angels’ offense kept building until the margin became a season-high 13 runs allowed for Los Angeles.
Emmet Sheehan never settled in for the Dodgers. He allowed a one-out rally in the second inning and was knocked out after 1 1/3 innings and 49 pitches, forcing the club into its bullpen earlier than expected while the Angels kept pressing. Jo Adell and Rivero combined for nine hits and eight RBI, a number that captures just how thoroughly the top of the Angels’ order controlled the afternoon.
For Rivero, the game was a jolt in the middle of a quiet start. He entered Sunday with only two RBI on the year and walked away with a line that doubled as a career day. Whether the performance becomes a turning point is still unwritten, but for one afternoon he was the difference in a rivalry game the Dodgers were trying to sweep and instead left having been overwhelmed.
