LOS ANGELES -- After pitching for the Dodgers for the first 12 years of his career, it’s always special for Kenley Jansen to return to Dodger Stadium.
The veteran closer made the most of it this weekend, as he threw a scoreless inning in a 6-2 win on Friday and then picked up a four-out save in a wild 11-9 victory on Saturday. He was put in a tough spot, coming in with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and the Angels clinging to a one-run lead, but he got the job done for his eighth save of the year and No. 455 in his career, which leads all active Major Leaguers.
“It's definitely emotional every time I step on that mound,” Jansen said. “A majority of my career has been there, so I enjoy being on that mound again. But it's just another competition. So I try to treat it the same like any team I'm facing, so just go out there and compete and try to help the team win ballgames.”
Jansen, 37, also threw his hardest pitch of the season on Friday, topping out at 96.7 mph with his cutter, which was 3 mph faster than his season average of 93.7 mph. It was his hardest thrown pitch since 2023, making it clear that pitching against his former club amped up Jansen and he was able to deliver in two impressive wins.
“It was probably the adrenaline of being home and facing his old team,” manager Ron Washington said. “But he has that in him. I think he threw 95 one time in Tampa. So I think every now and then, he has it in him, and he knows when to go get it. That's his experience.”
Jansen also pulled one of his old tricks on Saturday, intentionally balking Shohei Ohtani to third base with two outs in the ninth inning. He did it so that Ohtani couldn’t relay to Mookie Betts where catcher Logan O’Hoppe was set up. It worked out, as Betts flew out to end the game.
“I definitely wanted the intentional balk there,” Jansen said. “With Mookie hitting, Shohei at second, I thought it was best for him to be at third. I didn’t want him seeing any of the locations where Logan is sitting. So that was definitely the plan there.”
Jansen was also excited to be part of a series sweep over the rival Dodgers and is hopeful that the Angels can build on it. They hadn’t won a three-game series at Dodger Stadium since 2012 and the offense has started to show some signs of life after scuffling for several weeks.
“I think it's great, man, it shows that we can compete,” Jansen said. “The last two series actually have been very positive, even though we lost the series to the Padres. But you’ve seen the bats come alive. We just have to be better in the bullpen.”
As Jansen noted, the bullpen has been an issue for the Angels this season. They entered Sunday with a collective 7.04 ERA that ranked as the worst mark in the Majors. They shuffled things up a bit before Sunday’s game against the Dodgers, as veteran right-hander Hunter Strickland had his contract selected from Triple-A Salt Lake and José Fermín was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow impingement. Strickland, 36, was a key part of the bullpen last year with a 3.31 ERA in 73 1/3 innings.
Jansen said there’s still time to turn it around and they have to learn resiliency, much like he showed after he allowed six runs against the Tigers on May 2. But he's bounced back to post a 3.86 ERA in 4 2/3 innings since then, including two saves. His overall ERA remains inflated at 5.40 but largely due to that rough outing, as he’s held opponents scoreless in 13 of his 15 outings this year and has yet to blow a save.
“We have to turn things around,” Jansen said. “It’s only been two months and we still have four months left, so we have to clean things up. I had a bad game a few days ago, one of the worst of my career, but my message was to go back out there and do what I do best. So hopefully as a group we can move forward with positive vibes.”