ANAHEIM, Calif. – Mike Trout homered in his second at-bat hours after finalizing a contract extension, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Dodgers 6-2 Saturday night in the final preseason game for both clubs.
Kole Calhoun hit a three-run shot as the Angels finished their exhibition schedule with a 19-11 record. The Dodgers went 7-12. The Southern California rivals play four consecutive games against each other from Aug. 4-7, the first two at Dodger Stadium.
Angels starter Tyler Skaggs threw 98 pitches over 3 2-3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits. The 22-year-old left-hander was acquired from Arizona in a three-team trade with Chicago White Sox in which the Angels sent slugger Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks.
Former Angels right-hander Dan Haren pitched two innings, giving up six runs and six hits, including RBI doubles by Albert Pujols and David Freese in the first. The three-time All-Star is scheduled to make his Dodgers debut on Wednesday at San Diego.
Haren signed a $10 million, one-year contract with the Dodgers on Feb. 9 after spending last season with Washington. He has started at 30 or more games in 10 consecutive seasons, leading the majors in 2010 with a career-high 35.
Another ex-Angel, Chone Figgins, drove in both Dodgers runs with a double in the third inning.
The Dodgers played three exhibition games against the Angels after starting their regular-season schedule with a two-game sweep of the Diamondbacks in Australia. The defending NL West champions get back to the games that count on Sunday with Hyun-Jin Ryu starting against the Padres in place of ace Clayton Kershaw, who was placed on the 15-day DL for the first time in his seven-year career on Saturday because of a swollen muscle in his left upper back.
Angels ace Jered Weaver will take the ball for Monday night’s opener against Seattle’s Felix Hernandez in Anaheim.
Trout received a six-year, $144.5 million deal, locking him up through the 2020 season.
KNOOP MISSES HIS OLD BUDDY
Former Angels shortstop and manager Jim Fregosi, who died on Feb. 14 at age 71 after a series of strokes, played alongside Bobby Knoop in the 1960s. Knoop inducted Fregosi into the team’s hall of fame in 1989, and Knoop returned the favor last season.
Knoop said Fregosi’s death was “very difficult.”
“But I understand what happens in life, and I celebrate the good things. I don’t dwell on the bad things,” said Knoop, now a special assignment infield coach with the Angels at age 75. “I’m not so certain I miss the years, but I miss him. When you’re a part of somebody’s life like that, as a teammate and roommate — I mean, we spent more time together than we did with our families. But because of his personally, I’ll never lose him.”
BAYLOR’S BACK UNDER THE HALO
The Angels’ first AL MVP is now their hitting coach. Don Baylor has returned to Anaheim and has inherited one of the most dangerous lineups in the majors with 2011 World Series MVP David Freese joining Trout, Pujols and Josh Hamilton.
“A lot has changed here, but it’s still the Angels,” Baylor said. “It’s taken a while, a few other teams and things to get here, but this is the place for me to be. I’m not saying that I avoided it, but I always wanted to come back here, no doubt. Mike Scioscia and I worked together with Cystic Fibrosis for the past seven years and he values my opinion, so I’ll give it to him.
Baylor already has found a kinship with Hamilton, who struggled through his first season with the Halos after signing a five-year, $125 million contract in December 2012 and was a favorite target of the fans during the team’s 78-84 campaign.
“When I first signed here as a player I took some abuse early — kind of like what Josh Hamilton did last year — being a free agent,” Baylor said. “But I told him: ‘You work through it and you’ll be fine.'”
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