The chase goes on in May

As the Major League Baseball season charges into its second month, both area teams – the Dodgers and the Angels – continue knee-deep in tight division races.  In the National League West, the boys from Chavez Ravine kept pace Sunday with a 16-4 clobbering of the Milwaukee Brewers to stay within a half-game of the first place San Francisco Giants.

It was a powerful offensive show, capped by grand slam home runs by A.J Pollock and Matt Beaty (who finished with seven RBIs). The win went to Julio Urias (4-0), who worked seven innings, giving up just four hits and one run. He struck out 10 batters and walked none.

The Dodgers  (17-12) will need more great hitting and pitching to stay alive in a field in which the top four teams are separated by just two games. On Monday, the LAD start a three-game series in Chicago against the Cubs (12-16), finishing Wednesday.

It’s been a rough patch for the defending champs, having lost six of seven games and 10 of 13 after a red-hot start. Sunday’s one-sided win was especially welcome, then.

It wasn’t quite as much fun for the Angels on Sunday. They could only muster five hits in losing 2-0 to Seattle in Washington State. They wasted a pretty good start by Dylan Bundy (0-3), who lasted five innings, giving up just two hits and two runs. He struck out six and walked one.

On top of getting shut out, two-way star Shohei Ohtani was hit in the right elbow, with an unknown effect on today’s planned start on the mound.

The loss by the Halos (13-13) dropped them into fourth place in the AL West, but they remain in contention, sitting just 2.5 games back in the cluster chasing glory and a playoff spot.

Next for the Orange County team is a four-game homestand, hosting the Tampa Bay Rays (14-15) at the Big A Monday through Thursday.

As for the Lakers, they continue to stumble, despite now having their two big stars – LeBron James and Anthony Davis – back. They lost 121-114 to the Toronto Raptors and saw their record fall to 36-28 and a three-way tie for fifth place in the NBA Western Conference. Kyle Kuzma score 24 to lead the team.

The Lakers are back in action today (Monday) hosting the Denver Nuggets. After that, it’ll be a game Thursday against the Clippers and up the coast Friday in Portland.

The Clips are 43-22 and in fourth place in the conference.

“Sports Monday” is written by Pete Zarustica.