(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

The Los Angeles Dodgers head into Tuesday night's game with the Los Angeles Angels knowing they already have lost the season's Freeway Series to their Southern California rivals for the first time since 2019.

The Angels took a 4-0 lead in the six-game series with a 7-4 victory on Monday night. Shortstop Zach Neto reached base five times, going 3-for-3 with two solo home runs, three runs and two walks, while starter Jose Soriano allowed just two singles over six shutout innings.

It was the fifth straight victory over the defending World Series champions going back to last season for the Angels.

The loss dropped the Dodgers to just 12-19 since July 4, and their lead in the National League West fell to one game over the red-hot San Diego Padres, winners of 12 of their past 15. The bitter NL West rivals play six times over a 10-game span beginning with a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

That makes the final two games of the Freeway Series even more important for the Dodgers.

'It was a bad loss,' said third baseman Max Muncy, who hit a three-run homer on Monday. 'It really was a bad loss for us. There's not any way of really getting around that.'

The loss came on the heels of a frustrating 5-4 home defeat to Toronto on Sunday afternoon, a game that saw the Dodgers lose despite finishing with 10 hits and 13 walks. However, Los Angeles was just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 16 men on base.

'It's not going well for us right now,' Muncy said. 'We've got to find a way to snap out of it. No one is going to feel sorry for us. It's on us to find our way out of it.'

Muncy was asked if he was doing any scoreboard watching with the Padres in hot pursuit.

'We need to focus on ourselves. We can't worry about what anyone else is going,' he said. 'We've got to snap out of what is going on.'

Emmet Sheehan (3-2, 3.00 ERA) will make his first career start against the Angels on Tuesday and will be opposed by fellow right-hander Victor Mederos (0-0, 4.50), who will be making his first career appearance versus the Dodgers.

Mederos is 7-5 with a 3.39 ERA in 16 starts at Triple-A Salt Lake. He is subbing for left-hander Tyler Anderson, who is dealing with back stiffness and has made a franchise-record 19 consecutive starts without a win.

The Angels still have a slight pulse in the race for an American League playoff berth after Monday's victory, trailing the New York Yankees by six games for the final wild-card spot.

Neto got the Angels off to a quick start against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Monday, hitting his first pitch into the bleachers in right-center field for his eighth leadoff homer of the season. That broke Brian Downing's single-season mark set in 1987.

'Bang!' Neto replied when asked what he was feeling after hitting the home run. 'I mean, there's no other way to put it. That's a good way to start the game and get things going.'

'He's proven in the leadoff spot that be brings danger, the presence of the home run is there,' interim Angels manager Ray Montgomery said. 'He's done it a lot. It really (sets) the tone and gets everybody going.'

--Field Level Media