The Los Angeles Dodgers (16-7) swept the Los Angeles Angels (7-15) with three straight victories to win the annual “Freeway Series” between the crosstown rivals.

The Dodgers certainly seem to have found their stride, as they’ve now won five games in a row and nine of their last 11.

The clash featured a number of highlights, including the use of the new extra innings rule for the 2020 season, a home run from rookie Keibert Ruiz in his first career at-bat and a return to form for Cody Bellinger.

In the first meeting in the battle for L.A., it was the Dodger veterans who did most of the damage.

Offensively, Justin Turner and A.J. Pollock turned in a pair of RBI singles in the third inning to give the Dodgers an early lead, while Cody Bellinger broke out of his early-season slump with a pair of two-run home runs.

From the mound, Clayton Kershaw turned in a seven-inning performance in which he gave up a single hit, a solo home run to Anthony Rendon in the fifth inning.

The Dodgers relievers gave up a few runs late, but it wasn’t enough to overcome their early production as they went on to a 7-4 win.

Game two was the closest contest of the series, as the two teams traded blows all afternoon.

Eventually, after a solo home run from Mookie Betts in the seventh innings, the game was all tied at 5-5, with neither team able to take the lead by the end of the ninth, the game advanced into extra innings under the new rules for the 2020 season.

This year in extra innings, each team starts the inning with a runner on second base, in this instance Chris Taylor for the Dodgers.

During the inning’s opening at-bat, Taylor managed to steal third base to set the Dodgers up for the go-ahead score. Max Muncy responded with a deep fly ball to right field that brought Taylor home.

The Angels were unable to respond as Kenley Jansen sealed the deal for a 6-5 win.

The series closed with an offensive bang for the Dodgers as they poured on eight runs, including four home runs.

Dodgers rookie Keibert Ruiz made a splash in his debut as he started in place of Will Smith, who has been placed on the injured list with neck inflammation. In his major league debut, Ruiz managed to launch a solo home run shot to right field.

As he returned to the Dodger dugout, one of Ruiz’s teammates could be heard telling him “baseball is easy!”

The hit tied things up for the Dodgers 1-1, and they never looked back as they continued to pour on the runs, including a two-run homer from Max Muncy, a three-run shot homer from Corey Seager and a solo shot from Matt Beaty, cruising to an 8-3 victory to close out the series.

Now the Dodgers return home for a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners (7-16) starting Monday night at 6:40 p.m.

Santa Clarita residents can tune into all Dodger home games live on KHTS Radio, FM 98.1 and AM 1220.

KHTS Sports is your place for 2020 Santa Clarita high school sports and Los Angeles Dodgers coverage. Find all the latest news and updates on your hometown schools here as they compete in the Foothill League, Heritage League, Western State Conference and GSAC.