ANAHEIM, Calif. _ Andrelton Simmons had seen enough. Twice, he had taken first-pitch curveballs from Hyun-Jin Ryu on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium, one for a ball, one for a strike. As he stepped to the plate with two outs in the sixth inning, Kole Calhoun standing at second base, he resolved to be ready for a third.
It came just as anticipated, and Simmons swung with all of his might. He watched the ball soar through the hefty marine layer beyond the left-field fence and flipped his bat with impunity. On an unseasonably boisterous night at Angel Stadium, his ambushing strike supplied much of the offense in the Los Angeles Angels' 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The rest was not really offense. In a tied bottom of the ninth, Ben Revere reached on an error, took second on a wild pitch, took third on a passed ball and scored on a throwing error from catcher Yasmani Grandal, who was firing to first base to record the out after Cameron Maybin struck out on a wild changeup.
No team had recorded a walk-off win on a strikeout since 2010.
The Angels said they sold 44,669 tickets, marking the fourth sellout of 2017 and the second-largest crowd at the ballpark since its 1998 renovation.
The early on-field events were subdued. Sixty-three minutes into the game, Jefry Marte singled into right for the game's first hit. It began the bottom of the third inning. After a fielder's choice and another groundout, Danny Espinosa stood on second with two outs as Maybin battled to a 3-and-2 count. Ryu requested a meeting with Grandal before he fired a fastball along the bottom of the zone for a called third strike.
Yunel Escobar drew a two-out walk in the fourth. Down 0 and 2, Simmons drilled a 101-mph line drive back at Ryu, off of the pitcher's left foot. Appearing in pain, Ryu stayed in and induced an inning-ending groundout from Martin Maldonado.
Ryu worked around a two-out single in the fifth, then surrendered a ground-rule double to Calhoun to begin the sixth before Simmons' strike. He then gave up two singles, which ended his outing. Facing left-hander Grant Dayton with the bases loaded, Revere stroked a line drive to the warning track, where Yasiel Puig tracked it down.
Major league scouts refer to Alex Meyer as one of this baseball season's great mysteries. In some starts, he pitches as well as most anyone as he alternates between pumping 98-mph fastballs and plopping in 86-mph sliders. In other outings, his command compares to a junior college pitcher, eclipsing everything else he can offer.
As the Angels' starter, he offered both versions of himself. He was a mess through the first three innings, walking five Dodgers and throwing more balls than strikes.
Two pitches into the fourth, manager Mike Scioscia and trainer Eric Munson visited the mound to examine Meyer, who threw a warmup pitch and told them he was OK. Grandal soon singled up the middle for the Dodgers' first hit, but Logan Forsythe erased him with a double-play groundout two pitches later. Two pitches after that, Puig popped out, and Meyer finished the inning on 11 pitches.
Meyer cruised through the next two innings and exited after six scoreless innings.
Yusmeiro Petit pitched a perfect seventh. Trayce Thompson started the eighth with a 413-foot shot to left against rookie Keynan Middleton. With two outs, Justin Turner drove a ball 381 feet to right-center field, where Maybin caught it with his back against the wall.
Cam Bedrosian entered for the ninth inning, seeking his first save since April 18. He got two outs and then hung a 3-and-2 slider to Grandal, who clobbered it to center field, just beyond the wall.
Grandal was the game's hero for 17 minutes.
