LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jen Pawol, who made history last year as the first woman umpire in the major leagues, was behind the plate for the Angels-Dodgers game on Friday night.
Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani greeted her leading off the bottom of the first inning as he customarily does with the umpire in each of his at-bats.
Pawol, 49, umpired during spring training for the third straight year but she did not get one of the permanent staff openings. Instead, she is part of MLB's call-up list.
She worked her first game of the automated balls and strikes challenge system on April 17 when the Giants visited the Nationals.
She became the first female major league umpire on Aug. 9, 2025, and worked a total of five big league games last season. In 2024, she became the first woman to umpire big league spring training games since Ria Cortesio in 2007. Pawol has been a minor league ump since 2016 and has worked at Triple-A since 2023.
Pawol was flirting with potential history early in Friday's game.
Angels starter Reid Detmers tossed three hitless innings before allowing a single to Freddie Freeman in the fourth.
Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki pitched no-hit ball through the first four innings before giving up a double to Nick Madrigal in the fifth.
This story has been corrected to show Jen Pawol previously umpired this season.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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