Junior Caminero hit his 29th and 30th homers, Christopher Morel had a go-ahead shot and six Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 in the Rays’ 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Caminero hit a career-long 447-foot shot with a man on in the first, and had a solo homer in the third. Morel was 0 for 6 with six strikeouts in the series before hitting his solo homer in the seventh.
It was Caminero’s third two-homer game this season and he reached 101 RBIs for his career.
Nick Fortes also homered, his first hit in five games with the Rays since being acquired from Miami.
Starter Shane Baz struck out nine in four innings to help Tampa Bay win for the fourth time in 14 games. Garrett Cleavinger (1-4) was the winner, and Pete Fairbanks got his 19th save.
Ryan Zeferjahn (6-4) took the loss.
Mike Trout tied the score for Los Angeles with a three-run homer in the third. His 20th homer this season and 398th of his career was his 200th in Angels Stadium. He’s the first player in major league history with 200 homers and 100 steals (101) in one stadium.
The Angels loaded the bases with no outs against Griffin Jax in the eighth. But Jax, acquired from Minnesota for Taj Bradley on July 31, struck out the next three batters.
Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca left in the sixth with right hamstring tightness after legging out a triple. DeLuca was reinstated from the 60-day IL (right shoulder strain) on July 25.
Up next
Both teams are off Thursday. Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.59) will pitch at Detroit against LHP Tarik Skybal (11-3, 2.18) on Friday night. Tampa Bay will start RHP Drew Rasmussen (9-5, 2.81) against RHP Luis Castillo (8-6, 3.22) at Seattle on Friday night.
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer and Jake Mangum had a two-run single during the Tampa Bay Rays’ seven-run fourth inning in a 7-3 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night.
Yandy Díaz scored a run and drove in another during the decisive inning in Tampa Bay’s third win in 13 games.
Ryan Pepiot (7-9) yielded five hits and two earned runs while pitching into the sixth inning for Tampa Bay, breaking his five-start winless streak.
Jo Adell homered and drove in all three runs for the Angels, who dropped to 6-6 on their 13-game homestand.
José Soriano (7-9) threw three hitless innings before the Rays demolished him in the fourth.
After Díaz led off with the Rays’ first hit, Lowe followed with his 20th homer on a 411-foot shot to center. Four of Tampa Bay’s next five batters got hits, and Díaz added an RBI grounder in his second at-bat.
Adell hit a two-run shot for his 23rd homer in the fifth, and he added an RBI single in the sixth.
The Angels’ fifth inning could have been much bigger, but Logan O’Hoppe was thrown out at home while trying to score from first on Christian Moore’s double before Oswald Peraza got doubled off first on Bryce Teodosio’s sharp lineout to Lowe.
Lowe has 20 homers in three straight seasons and four of his last five.
Jo Adell hit a two-run homer, Yusei Kikuchi surrendered four hits in six innings and the Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Monday night.
The Rays (55-59) struck in the opening inning when Yandy Díaz doubled to right and scored on Junior Caminero’s sacrifice fly to center field. Kikuchi (5-7) escaped without further damage and finished with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Angels pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts.
Yoán Moncada reached on a fielder’s choice for the Angels in the second inning before Adell launched a 428-foot homer to left-center off Adrian Houser (6-3), putting the Angels (55-58) ahead 2-1.
The Angels made it 4-1 in the third inning on Taylor Ward‘s two-run single. Bryce Teodosio doubled in the sixth and Zach Neto drove him in with a double of his own that put the Angels up 5-1.
Ward and Teodosio both had three hits.
Houser worked 5⅔ innings, yielding 11 hits and five runs while striking out three.
Christopher Morel finished 0 for 4 with four strikeouts for the Rays.
Key moment: Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch, and Mike Trout doubled to left field to open the third inning. Ward followed with a single to center that drove both runners in and gave the Angels a three-run lead.
Key stat: Ward and Teodosio both had three hits.
Up next: The Rays and Angels face off again Tuesday night. RHP Ryan Pepiot (6-9, 3.80 ERA) is expected to start for Tampa Bay against RHP José Soriano (7-8, 3.65 ERA) for Angels.
Taylor Ward hit a game-ending three-run homer in the ninth inning, Zach Neto had a home run and three RBIs and the Angels beat the Chicago White Sox 8-5 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.
In a tie game, Nolan Schanuel doubled with one out in the ninth before Mike Trout was walked intentionally. Ward went deep against left-hander Tyler Alexander (4-10) to set a career high with 26 home runs.
Taylor Ward has his fourth career walk-off and third career walk-off homer.
Right-hander Kenley Jansen (4-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the Angels (54-58).
Colson Montgomery hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs for the White Sox. They lost for just the third time in their last 12 road games.
The White Sox (42-70) took a 4-0 lead in the first inning when Robert had an RBI single and Montgomery followed with a three-run home run against Jack Kochanowicz.
Chicago made it 5-0 in the third on Montgomery’s RBI single.
The Angels started their rally in the sixth with a leadoff home from Neto. Ward had an RBI single, and Trout scored on a wild pitch. The Angels tied it in the seventh on a two-run double from Neto.
Key moment: The White Sox brought in the lefty Alexander to face left-handed hitting Schanuel in the ninth and his second hit of the game was a double to right to start the decisive rally.
Key stat: Montgomery played in his 24th career game since his debut July 4, with all seven of his home runs coming over his past 10 games.
Up next: Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-7, 3.30) is scheduled to start at home against Tampa Bay on Monday.
The second in an occasional series of profiles on Southern California athletes who have flourished in their post-playing careers.
The expansion Los Angeles Angels were just 5 months old in September 1961 when the team called up three minor leaguers who would come to define the fledgling franchise’s early years.
Jim Fregosi, a teenage shortstop, would go on to make six All-Star teams and win a Gold Glove. Right-hander Dean Chance, who turned 20 that summer, would win Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards and lead the American League in wins, ERA, shutouts and innings pitched. And Buck Rodgers would catch for nine big league seasons before managing at the minor and major league level for the Angels.
But only Dan Ardell, a light-hitting first baseman who was called up with them, would do something that had never been done before on Sept. 20 against the Detroit Tigers. In his first big league plate appearance, Ardell blooped a single to right field, only to see pinch-runner Ken McBride get caught rounding second base to end the game.
“I’m the only one to only get one hit. And the one hit was a walk-off loss,” he said. “Not easy to do.”
There were few witnesses since many in the crowd of 3,116 at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium had left long before the ninth inning. Ardell would appear in six more games, four as a pinch-runner, and make six more plate appearances without a hit, striking out twice, walking once and dropping down a sacrifice bunt to finish with a .250 lifetime batting average.
It wasn’t good enough to get him a plaque in the Hall of Fame but you can still find him listed there, alongside the other 20,964 men who have played in the majors.
“It’s a very low number,” Ardell said, acknowledging the accomplishment. “Very low.”
Yet more than six decades later, Ardell looks back on his month with the Angels with neither delight nor disappointment. He has gone on to live a rich life, one that has included well-paying jobs in banking and asset management, a 41-year marriage that produced four children and six grandchildren, and absolutely no regrets about a baseball career that was so short it’s remembered mostly for a teammate’s base-running blunder.
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1.Jim Fregosi during a game in Anaheim in 1965.(Transcendental Graphics / Getty Images)2.Dean Chance won a Cy Young Award with the Angels.(Associated Press)3.Rich Rollins of the Minnesota Twins swings and misses as Angels catcher Buck Rodgers catches the pitch in a 1962 game. All three players were called up to the Angels in September 1961 along with Dan Ardell, whose career only lasted seven games.(Hy Peskin Archive / Getty Images)
“I never had a desire to be a major league ballplayer,” said Ardell, a retired real estate executive who made $1,250 for his big league cameo. “I loved playing baseball, but once I started playing professionally, I was bored. I was disinterested.”
In fact, the bookish Ardell probably never should have been there at all. But after winning the College World Series as a sophomore at USC, he accepted a $37,500 bonus to leave school five semesters short of a degree to sign with the Angels.
Still, he hedged his bets just the same.
“They wanted to give me $35,000 and I said I need $37,500 because that would give me the $500 a semester [tuition] at ‘SC that I needed,” Ardell said.
The newly born Angels had just two minor league teams, so Ardell was sent to the Dodgers’ Class D farm club in Artesia, N.M. His manager was Spider Jorgensen, whose big league debut in 1947 had been somewhat overshadowed by teammate Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color line that day. Since Jorgensen’s equipment never made it to the ballpark, he played third base that day using an infielder’s glove he borrowed from Robinson.
The team Jorgensen managed went 48-78 and finished last, 29½ games out of first in the Sophomore League — so bad that Sports Illustrated came to New Mexico to document its mediocrity. Ardell finished that first season with more strikeouts (32) than hits (30) in 125 at-bats, but he was big, left-handed and played first base — three attributes that were enough to get him a trial with an Angels team that entered September 30 games behind the league-leading Yankees.
“I basically played second string at ‘SC,” Ardell said. “So I go from second string to Class D ball — which wasn’t as good as our ‘SC team — to the big leagues all within 60 days. At age 20, it was an incredible roller coaster.”
It was a ride he quickly tired off. He didn’t drink and he was about to get married, so the frat house atmosphere of a professional baseball team wasn’t one he partook of. After three more minor league seasons, he retired at 23.
“I learned a lot about myself,” he said of those three mostly unhappy summers.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t do it. It was that he didn’t want to do it. Being a big league ballplayer may have been some kids’ dream, but it wasn’t his.
“I got no satisfaction out of it. And I was bored,” he said. “It just wasn’t that interesting to me once I had to make my living doing it.
“If you don’t love what you’re doing, if you don’t appreciate and like what you’re doing, it becomes hard work.”
At 84, Ardell has an easy smile and a quick, self-deprecating wit he employs often. He’s still at his playing weight of 190 pounds, but he says he’s lost 2 inches off a frame that once rose to 6-foot-2. And he no longer moves with the speed or grace that allowed him to steal seven bases in his first minor league season.
There is no memorabilia, no remnants of his short-lived career in his hillside home in Laguna Beach’s Bluebird Canyon, about a half-mile from the Pacific Ocean. He gave his gloves away during a garage sale shortly after he quit playing and a grandson took down the few pictures he had hung on the wall.
After retiring with a .252 average and 45 home runs in 389 minor league games, Ardell went back to college, then studied real estate, working for Union Bank and Wells Fargo. He eventually started a real estate asset management company with his twin brother Dave, an equally talented baseball player who played at UCLA, where he was the team captain.
After retiring with a .252 average and 45 home runs in 389 minor league games, Dan Ardell returned to school at USC, then studied real estate, working for Union Bank and Wells Fargo.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
That anyone remembers he played at all is both flattering and befuddling for Ardell, who receives about a dozen autograph requests in the mail each year.
“I mean, how do they even know my address?” he asked.
Still, he answers every letter. Some fans send old photos or baseball cards that are necessarily homemade since Ardell never got a Topps bubblegum card of his own.
“In those days anybody who signed a bonus, Topps would sign,” he said. “So they came to Artesia, where I was playing, and said ‘we want to give you a Topps card. And we’ll pay you five bucks’.
“I said, ‘I think I need 10.’ So I’m the only only major leaguer who never had a Topps card.”
Which isn’t to say Ardell has no mementos from his career. A fastball he didn’t see on a poorly lit field in San José slipped under the bill of his batting helmet and struck him flush in the head one night.
“I woke up the next day. You could see the seam where the baseball hit. I still have a dent,” he said with a chuckle, pointing to a spot in the center of his forehead.
It wasn’t until three decades after he walked away from the game that Ardell came to appreciate what he had accomplished — and only then after marrying Jean Hastings, who would shortly become a nationally recognized baseball academic and writer.
Ardell and Hastings — a Brooklyn native who had always been a baseball fanatic — were living in the same Orange County neighborhood when a mutual friend suggested they go out on a date.
“She had just read ‘Ball Four,’” Ardell said, referencing Jim Bouton’s book about the raunchy, less-seemly side of baseball. “So she said no, baseball players are to look at, they’re not to touch.”
Dan Ardell says he receives about a dozen autograph requests in the mail each year, with some fans sending old photos or homemade baseball cards since Ardell never got a Topps card of his own. “I mean, how do they even know my address?” he said.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
She went on the date anyway, then married Ardell a couple of years later in 1981. Jean, 79, died in 2022 after a short, ferocious battle with leukemia, but in the more than 40 years she spent with Ardell, she slowly rekindled his love for a game he had all but forgotten.
They went to conferences and symposiums, where Jean spoke on the magic and the poetry of baseball. They visited the Hall of Fame, traveled to Arizona for spring training and attended countless Angels games, watching on TV the ones they couldn’t attend in person.
“It was definitely part of her,” grandson Garrett Tyler said.
Jean not only helped Ardell put his baseball career into perspective, she helped put his life in perspective. Shortly after they married, “I decided to have a mission statement,” Ardell said. “And my mission statement was to make a difference in the lives of others.”
“Ten years later,” he added “I changed it to make a positive difference.”
He saw that desire at work in Jean, a political liberal who, in addition to her baseball writing, also worked with a nonprofit called Braver Angels that seeks to bridge the political divide by bringing Democrats and Republicans together. It was a philosophy she lived by marrying Ardell, a lifelong Republican who cast his first presidential vote for Barry Goldwater but later drove a car sporting a “Republicans for Obama” bumper sticker.
Ardell was already working with Opportunity International, a global nonprofit that alleviates generational poverty by microfinancing community projects both in Southern California and abroad. But now the bridge that he and Jean built became apparent through the difference being made — not only in those affected communities, but in his own soul as well.
Tyler said he grew up playing catch with his grandfather, who attended all his Little League games. But it was his grandmother who told him about Ardell’s professional career.
“He was always a little bit reluctant to talk about it. My grandma was the one that kind of opened him up,” said Tyler, 25, who followed his grandparents into baseball, where he works as manager of concessions for the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the double A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I’ve talked to him a lot about that. He told me that he just didn’t have the confidence. He knew that he was good, but I don’t think he really understood it. I don’t know if he necessarily misses it or feels like he missed out. I think he was more appreciative of the journey that it took him on and how he’s evolved into a different love for baseball.”
As he has grown older, Tyler said that’s the part of his grandfather’s journey that has stuck with him; the mission statement part that says it’s not about the destination or the accomplishments, but about the influence you have on those you meet along the way.
In that way, he said, Ardell’s short career is now having an outsized influence.
Tyler mentions a friend who is basically playing for free, stranded below the longest rung of the minor league ladder. But he still puts on a uniform every day.
“He plays for the love of the game and just because it’s all he knows,” Tyler said. “One of the things that Dan asks me that I ask my friend is, ‘do you like what you’re doing?’ And at that point it’s not about your career longevity or how much money you’re making.
“As long as you’re happy playing and you’re making ends meet, then go for it.”
Ardell wasn’t happy playing, so he walked away. Three decades later with the love and support of a wife who saw baseball not as a sport but as a metaphor for life, as a game where the goal is to get home safely, Ardell began to understand the magic, too.
His one month in the majors led him to a career prosperous enough that he could help others, one that still fills his mailbox with letters from fans and one that has given him the wisdom to counsel other 23-year-olds to keep putting on the uniform as long as it fits.
Make a positive difference in the lives of others.
“It was a very inconsequential part of my life that was very consequential to other people,” Ardell said of his one month in the majors.
Aaron Civale pitched one-hit ball into the seventh inning and the Chicago White Sox beat the Angels 1-0 on Saturday night to surpass their win total from last season.
Chicago improved to 42-69 with its 10th win in 14 games since the All-Star break. It finished with a 41-121 record in 2024, breaking the modern major league record for most losses in a season.
The White Sox scored their only run on Kyle Teel’s RBI single in the second against Kyle Hendricks (6-8). Teel drove in Luis Robert Jr., who reached on a leadoff single.
Civale (3-6) struck out eight in 6⅓ innings. He is 2-0 in his last three starts, yielding an unearned run and seven hits in 17⅓ innings.
The Angels (53-58) got their only hit when Zach Neto beat out a slow roller down the third base line leading off the fourth. It was the team’s third consecutive loss. Nolan Schanuel walked after Neto’s hit. But Civale retired the next three batters.
Mike Trout sat out a second straight game after he missed Friday’s series opener with illness.
Brandon Eisert retired each of his five batters, and Jordan Leasure finished the one-hitter for his third save in seven opportunities.
Brooks Baldwin had two of Chicago’s six hits.
The White Sox (42-69) played without infielder Miguel Vargas, who was scratched because of a left oblique strain.
Andrew Benintendi had a double and a home run, Lenyn Sosa also homered among his two hits, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Angels 6-3 on Friday night.
White Sox starter Shane Smith gave up two runs and two hits while striking out four over 4⅓ innings in his first start since July 11 following a stint on the 15-day injured list. Jordan Leasure (4-6) earned the win in relief, striking out four in 1⅔ innings.
Benintendi and Sosa each hit solo home runs in the second inning off Angels starter Tyler Anderson (2-7), and Luis Robert Jr. had a sacrifice fly drove Miguel Vargas home in the fourth inning to make it 3-0.
Gustavo Campero‘s second home run of the year, a two-run blast to deep center field in the fifth, got the Angels within one, but Colson Montgomery answered with a deep homer of his own in the sixth inning.
Campero’s baserunning error prevented the game-tying run from scoring in the seventh, ending what was a bases-loaded, one-out threat for the Angels.
Logan O’Hoppe scored on Zach Neto‘s sacrifice fly to bring the Angels within one again, and Nolan Schanuel appeared to drive in Travis D’Arnaud with a two-out single, but Campero was thrown out at third prior to d’Arnaud crossing the plate.
Sosa had an RBI single in the eighth and Josh Rojas added a solo homer in the ninth.
Steven Wilson got the last six outs for his second save of the year for Chicago (41-69).
Mike Trout did not play for the Angels (53-57) because of illness.
Montgomery continued his second-half tear with a solo home run, which represented his 18th RBI since the All-Star break. He is now tied with Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber for the most RBIs since the break.
In the slang, “mid” means disappointingly mediocre, forgettable, uninspiring. On TikTok, a classic rant starts: “It’s called the Midwest because everything in it is mid! Skyline Chili? Mid! Your Cincinnati Reds, who haven’t won a World Series since 1990? M-M-M-Mid!!!”
Today, the Reds are five games over .500, and one of four teams that appear to be competing for the three National League wild-card spots. They added a starting pitcher, an elite defensive third baseman and a veteran utilityman batting .298 ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
They are three games under .500, four games out in the American League wild-card race, with four teams to pass, hoping to end baseball’s longest playoff drought at 10 years.
The Seattle Mariners, tied with the Texas Rangers for the final wild-card spot, traded for middle-of-the-lineup corner infielders in third baseman Eugenio Suárez and first baseman Josh Naylor. The Rangers acquired Merrill Kelly to supplement Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi atop the starting rotation.
The Angels made two trades, picking up two veteran setup men and an infielder batting .152 for three lightly regarded minor leaguers.
Why lightly bolster a team with a 1.3% chance of making the playoffs, as projected by Baseball Prospectus before Thursday’s trades, when you could start building the 2026 roster in the many areas needing improvement?
“Giving them a chance to play this thing out, relative to what was presented [in trade talks], made a lot of sense,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said.
In large part, he said, this was about the young players.
“The development of our core is obviously very, very, very important,” Minasian said. “Being competitive in August and September is really, really important for this group, not only for the now but for the future — playing meaningful games, understanding there is an expectation to win, showing up to the ballpark every day feeling like you have a chance to win over a six-month period.
“It’s hard to quantify, but I felt like it was very important for this group to go through that, to see what playing in August demands, what playing in September is like.”
Does he see the 2025 Angels playing meaningful games in October?
“I don’t make predictions,” he said.
Beyond shortstop Zach Neto, no one on the Angels’ current roster was likely to command an elite prospect in return.
Yet the Angels could have traded soon-to-be free agents such as pitchers Kenley Jansen and Tyler Anderson, or infielders Yoan Moncada and Luis Rengifo, to fill 2026 needs: a back-end starter, bullpen help, a utility infielder, a defense-first outfielder, upper-level depth in the minor leagues.
Maybe Oswald Peraza, the once-hyped New York Yankees prospect with the .152 average, starts at third base next year, or secures that utility job. Minasian called him “a classic change-of-scenery guy.”
To get him, however, the Angels surrendered $73,766 in international bonus pool money that could have been better used to sign Latin American prospects. Minasian said the Angels had used what they needed of their $6,261,600 pool they needed this year — and the better prospects cost much more than $73,766 — but they cannot afford to close any avenues for talent acquisition.
But the Dodgers spend whatever they need, and then some, on deep and talented rosters of players, coaches and executives, and on player development and player acquisition.
It’s not all about money. It’s about creativity too. The Dodgers inserted themselves into a three-team trade Wednesday to bolster their farm system by trading a surplus minor league catcher for two minor league pitchers. The Dodgers last year inserted themselves into another three-team trade to grab reliever Michael Kopech, then-injured Tommy Edman for a depth bat and two minor leaguers.
The last time the Angels were a party to a three-team deal, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman facilitated that too. The Dodgers got four players from the Miami Marlins, then swapped pitcher Andrew Heaney to the Angels for infielder Howie Kendrick. That was in 2014.
The Angels these days do not spend as much, or as well, on free agents. They do not distinguish themselves in scouting, analytics, player development or international signings.
The Angels have their kids, but the optimism inherent in their talk of a young core obscures the fact they are about to have to pay the kids — and, money aside, they are running out of time.
Shortstop Zach Neto has emerged as a young star for the Angels, who are fighting for a wild-card playoff spot this season.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Neto, the lone star to emerge so far from the young core, is eligible for salary arbitration this winter. The Angels control him for only three more seasons — maybe less, if some or all of the 2027 season is lost to a collective bargaining war.
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe and pitcher José Soriano also are eligible for arbitration this winter. First baseman Nolan Schanuel is eligible next winter.
In the big picture, nothing much changed Thursday. The plan today is the same as it was in spring training: hope enough young players blossom that, when Anthony Rendon’s contract expires next fall, Minasian can persuade owner Arte Moreno that spending big on one or two players in free agency could make the difference. If playing meaningful games this August makes those young players that much better, perhaps this trade deadline was worth it.
Moreno resists rebuilding, as an advocate for fans he believes deserve to see a competitive team. No one in Orange County has to watch what something akin to what the Colorado Rockies are offering — or what the Houston Astros were offering before their ongoing run of success. Rebuilding could mean 100-loss seasons and an even greater drop in attendance; competing could mean sneaking into the playoffs with 84 victories.
The Angels could do that this year. It could work. However, it has not worked over the last decade, and in the meantime the Angels have become an unwitting poster child for a players’ union fighting against a salary cap to say, “Market size is not destiny. Look at the Angels.”
You can say the game plan is to contend every year, in the interest of the fans, but you should not try to win every year on a wing and a prayer.
Your most dedicated fans — represented by the hundreds that decorated themselves in wings and halos at Wednesday’s game, flapping their arms as angels in the outfield — were not shy about letting their feelings be known.
You could hear them loud and clear, at the game and on the television broadcast, “Sell the team!”
Nathan Eovaldi limited the Angels to a run in seven innings, Adolis García hit a two-run homer in the eighth and the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Eovaldi (9-3) helped the Rangers avoid a series sweep and snap the Angels’ three-game winning streak. He allowed six hits and struck out four.
Marcus Semien was three for five with an RBI and two runs. He doubled and opened the scoring on Wyatt Langford’s single in the fourth, and had an RBI single in the sixth. Langford was two for five with a double.
Robert Garcia pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
José Soriano (7-8) pitched seven innings for the Angels, giving up two runs, one of which was unearned, while striking out seven.
Luis Rengifo tied it, 1-1, with an RBI single in the fourth.
García broke hit open in the eighth with his 15th home run of the season, and Texas tacked on two more runs to pull away.
Nolan Schanuel hit a two-run homer for the Angels in the eighth. Corey Seager extended his majors-best on-base streak to 29 games in the ninth with a single to right.
Key moment
García’s eighth-inning homer gave Texas breathing room.
Key stat
Eovaldi allowed just one run.
Up next
Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-6, 4.41) is scheduled to start at home Friday night against the Chicago White Sox.
Pinch-hitter Yoán Moncada keyed a four-run sixth inning with a two-run single and Gustavo Campero also drove in two runs as the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 8-5 on Tuesday night.
Texas took a 4-3 lead with two runs in the sixth, one scoring on Ezequiel Duran’s RBI single and the other on an error. But two walks by Rangers reliever Jon Gray opened the door for the Angels in the bottom half.
Campero tied it when he doubled to shallow left-center, with Texas center fielder Sam Haggerty coming up short on his attempt at a sliding catch. Moncada lined his two-out single to right for a 6-4 lead, and Zach Neto doubled to make it 7-4.
The Rangers outhit the Angels 14-6. Kyle Higashioka had three hits, including solo homers in the fourth and eighth for his sixth career multihomer game. He scored three times.
Both benches and bullpens emptied briefly in the bottom of the eighth after Rangers reliever Shawn Armstrong hit Neto and Mike Trout with pitches, prompting an angry exchange between Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery and Texas manager Bruce Bochy. No punches were thrown.
Angels left-hander Reid Detmers struck out two in a scoreless seventh, and Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth for his 20th save. Jansen has not given up an earned run in 17 consecutive appearances, the longest active streak by an American League pitcher and tying the longest such streak of his career.
Texas starter Patrick Corbin shook off a 30-pitch, two-run first to complete five innings. He gave up three runs — two earned — and three hits.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi gave up four runs, three earned, and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Rangers right fielder Adolis García, who dropped a routine fly that led to an Angels run in the fourth, robbed Nolan Schanuel of a two-run homer with a leaping catch to end the fifth, keeping the score 3-2.
Kenley Jansen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 19th save as the Angels won back-to-back games for the first time since defeating Arizona on July 11 and 12.
The 37-year-old Jansen hasn’t allowed an earned run in 16 consecutive appearances, the longest active streak in the American League and the third-longest of his career.
Connor Brogdon (2-1) replaced Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the fifth and gave up one run in 1⅔ innings. Kochanowicz, called up from triple-A Salt Lake earlier in the day, conceded two runs — none earned — in 4⅔ innings.
Newman’s two-run shot opened the scoring in the third, and Zach Neto added an RBI double in the fifth.
Josh Jung hit a solo homer and Jonah Heim had an RBI single for the Rangers. Josh Smith and Corey Seager scored when Adolis García reached on an error by right fielder Gustavo Campero, who bobbled a routine flyball.
Jacob deGrom (10-3), who was 6-0 in his previous 10 starts, gave up five runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts in 5⅓ innings. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has yielded at least one home run in five consecutive games in the same season for the first time in his 12-year career.
Key moment: Ward’s leadoff homer in the sixth gave the Angels the lead for good, and Rengifo added a two-run drive off reliever Jacob Webb to make it 6-3.
Key stat:
Up next: Patrick Corbin (6-7, 3.78 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for Texas on Tuesday against Yusei Kikuchi (4-7, 3.23) in the middle game of the series.
Mike Trout hit a two-run homer in a four-run fifth inning to reach 1,000 career RBIs, and the Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1 on Sunday.
Kyle Hendricks (6-7) gave up one run on two hits over six-plus innings and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save as the Angels earned a split of the four-game series.
Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 41st home run for the Mariners.
The Angels broke a scoreless tie when Kevin Newman’s grounder brought home Travis d’Arnaud in the fifth. Luis Rengifo then scored on Logan Gilbert’s wild pitch.
Trout crushed a 443-foot drive to center field off Gilbert to give him 1,001 RBIs. It was his 397th career homer and 19th this season.
Raleigh connected against Hendricks in the seventh, his second home run in two nights and fourth this year against Los Angeles.
Hendricks, who had one walk and three strikeouts, won for the first time since June 17.
Gilbert (3-4) gave up four runs and three hits over five innings with seven strikeouts.
Key moment: Angels center fielder Jo Adell kept Seattle off the scoreboard in the sixth when he reached above the wall to take away a home run from J.P. Crawford.
Key stat: Trout became the third player to get his first 1,000 RBIs entirely in an Angels uniform, following Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon.
Up next: Angels right-hander Jack Kochanowicz (3-9, 6.03) is expected to start Monday against Texas.
Cal Raleigh became the first player to hit 40 homers this season with a tiebreaking solo shot in the sixth inning of the Seattle Mariners’ 7-2 victory over the Angels on Saturday night.
Raleigh hammered a 97-mph fastball from José Fermin 416 feet into the right-field bleachers for his second homer in eight games since winning the Home Run Derby.
Julio Rodríguez hit his fourth solo homer in three games at Angel Stadium, and Randy Arozarena also connected for the Mariners (56-49).
George Kirby struck out nine over six difficult innings of five-hit ball to earn his fourth win in five starts despite not matching his 14-strikeout performance at Angel Stadium last month. Kirby fanned Luis Rengifo on a slider with the bases loaded to end the sixth.
Taylor Ward hit his 24th homer for the Angels (50-55), who have lost five of six.
Angels star Mike Trout walks back to the dugout after striking out in the first inning of a 7-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
(William Liang / Associated Press)
Tyler Anderson yielded six hits and two runs while pitching inefficiently into the fifth. The veteran left-hander and Angels trade candidate has a 5.66 ERA in his last four starts.
Rodríguez connected in the third, adding his 18th homer of the season to his solo shot Thursday and two more in the Mariners’ loss Friday.
Arozarena led off the fourth with his 20th homer, reaching the milestone for the fifth consecutive season.
Yoán Moncada, another Angels trade candidate, left in pain after Kirby’s fastball hit him in the hand. X-rays were negative.
Raleigh is the seventh catcher in major league history to hit 40 homers in a season. It’s been done nine times overall — twice by Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza.
Kenley Jansen signed his first professional contract with the Dodgers 21 years ago. He was Clayton Kershaw’s catcher in rookie ball. He has been honored as an All-Star four times. He has saved more games than all but three men in major league history, all of them Hall of Famers. He won a World Series with the Dodgers.
For all that Jansen has accomplished in his two decades in pro ball, there is one thing he has not experienced: He never has been traded.
That could happen in the coming days, with baseball’s trade deadline next Thursday. As we talked about that possibility Friday at Angel Stadium, and about how the sport can be a cold business at times, he dropped 11 words that stood out.
“I thought,” he said, “I would play my whole career with the Dodgers.”
Maybe you can go home again.
The Dodgers are urgently shopping for right-handed relievers. In Anaheim, Jansen is enjoying a season that by some measures is his best since 2021, his last season with the Dodgers.
First things first: Jansen did not sign with the Angels just to rack up saves. He is 36 saves shy of 500, a milestone reached only by Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman.
“I came here with one goal in mind,” Jansen said, “and the goal was to help this team turn around, to end that playoff drought. That’s what I’m here for.
“If they move me, I’d definitely feel disappointed we didn’t accomplish it.”
But let’s be real: The longest playoff drought in the majors is likely to hit 11 years. The Angels are 4-1/2 games out of a postseason berth, but they would have to pass six teams to sneak into the last wild-card spot in the American League playoffs. Baseball Prospectus projects their chance of making the playoffs at 2%.
The Angels demoted their fifth starter this month. They have been running bullpen games because they had no one in their farm system ready to fill the vacancy. They only have two starters you could pencil into their 2026 rotation.
They need pitching depth, and it would be organizational malpractice not to get some by trading their pending free agents, Jansen included.
Kenley Jansen pitches for the Dodgers against the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NLCS on Oct. 19, 2021.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
For the Angels, the optimal outcome would be a team desperate for a closer overpaying to get Jansen.
However, such a team would be more likely to overpay for the marquee names on the market, including Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins, Emmanuel Clase of the Cleveland Guardians and Felix Bautista of the Baltimore Orioles, with a second tier led by David Bednar of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Dodgers hate to overpay.
Jansen has 17 saves and one blown save, with a 1.00 earned-run average in save situations and a 3.19 ERA overall. The latter is his lowest ERA since 2021. By ERA+, a statistic that accounts for league and ballpark factors, Jansen is at 133 — or 33% better than league average.
The only Dodgers relievers with an ERA+ above 133: left-handers Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer.
Dodgers relievers have thrown 49.1% of the team’s innings pitched; the highest percentage of any major league team. Vesia, Anthony Banda and the injured Tanner Scott rank among the top 20 in appearances. Ben Casparius, who earned his first major league save Friday, ranked second among major league relievers in innings pitched.
Phillips is out for the season. Treinen could return from the injured list next week, with Kopech possibly to follow next month and Graterol in September, but it is risky to count on injured players to return healthy and effective.
In a major league career that started in 2010, Jansen never has been on the injured list because of an elbow or forearm issue, and his two stints for shoulder inflammation were brief.
The Dodgers could drop Jansen into their mix of high-leverage right-handers. They would not want Jansen if he would want to be the unquestioned closer.
He is getting the job done as a closer, and he is getting closer to 500 saves. But the Dodgers’ analysts would probably take note of his career highs in exit velocity and hard-hit balls, and a .774 OPS against left-handers that compares unfavorably to his .600 career mark, and might want to spot him against a run of right-handers. Could be the sixth inning, could be the ninth.
Whether it’s the Dodgers or any other contending team, would Jansen consider a role outside the ninth inning?
“At that point, it’s just about getting rings,” Jansen said. “My goal is to win. You play for that, always. I understand there is a milestone I am close to. But, at the end of the day, it’s what you play for. You play to win. You play to win a World Series.
“If I have to go throw the sixth, seventh, eighth, I would do it. I’m a professional. I would do what I do best, and that is pitch.”
Jansen said he hasn’t given up on this Angels team, or this Angels season. He would love to win in Anaheim. The Angels could help him do that: Trade him for another pitching piece that could help them next year, then sign Jansen again over the winter.
Rodríguez, who stole third base in the first inning, has 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases this season. The 24-year-old is the first player in MLB history with at least 15 homers and 20-plus stolen bases in each of their first four seasons.
Evans (4-3), a 24-year-old rookie, allowed three hits and walked three with three strikeouts. Andrés Muñoz pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save.
Rodríguez hit a solo shot off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (4-7) and Arozarena added a two-run homer to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead in the fifth.
Mike Trout doubled and then scored when Nolan Schanuel followed with a single in the first for the Angels. Zach Neto added an RBI single in the seventh.
The Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from Arizona earlier Thursday, ahead of the trade deadline on July 31.
Key moment: Trout drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with two out in the ninth before Muñoz got Schanuel to line out to end the game.
Key stat: Trout has 437 total bases and 146 runs scored in his career against Seattle, both of which are records. Rafael Palmeiro and Rickey Henderson hold the previous marks of 435 total bases and 145 runs, respectively.
Up next: Seattle’s Bryan Woo (8-5, 2.91 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday against José Soriano (7-7, 3.73) in the second of a four-game series.
NEW YORK — Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer to power the New York Mets to a 6-3 win and series sweep of the Angels on Wednesday.
Alonso, mired in a 2-for-34 slump dating to July 10, homered two batters after Francisco Lindor broke a career-long 0-for-31 drought with an RBI single.
Brandon Nimmo hit his 14th career leadoff homer and Lindor added another RBI single in the fourth for the Mets, who swept a series for the fifth time this season.
Sean Manaea (1-1), making his third appearance and second start after battling oblique and elbow injuries, allowed one run and struck out five over five innings. Edwin Díaz got the final four outs for his 21st save.
Mike Trout homered in the third — the 396th home run and 999th RBI of his career — for the Angels, who were swept for the seventh time. Luis Rengifo (forceout) and Chris Taylor (double) collected RBIs in the seventh.
Left-hander Jake Eder (0-1), the last of three Angels pitchers on a bullpen day, gave up five runs in a career-high six innings.
Key moment
Alonso’s first homer since July 8 was the 248th of his career, pulling him within four of Darryl Strawberry for the all-time Mets franchise lead.
Key stat
Trout is aiming to become the second active player with 400 homers and the ninth with 1,000 RBIs.
Up next
Angels LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-6, 3.13 ERA) starts Thursday, when the Angels return home for a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners and RHP Logan Evans (3-3, 3.81 ERA).
Ron Washington was beaming in his black suit, complete with a red tie, as he sat at a table perched on a platform in the Home Plate Club of Angel Stadium on Wednesday.
The 71-year old manager from New Orleans, the newest in Angels history, scanned the room, taking in his moment as his new general manager, Perry Minasian, boasted about him. Minasian gave him his official Angels gear and Washington affixed his newest cap to his head and meticulously buttoned each button on his newest jersey.
“Now I’m legit,” Washington said and smiled.
It had been nine years since Washington had been in this position, the manager of a major league baseball team. Now that he was back, he stated his message clearly: The Angels will be a force to be reckoned with while he’s in charge.
“Our whole focus is going to be to run the [American League] West down,” Washington said in front of a crowd of Angels players, alumni, media members and team employees. “And you can take that to the bank and deposit it.”
Washington, hired by Texas Rangers ahead of the 2007 season, has had a chip on his shoulder after not winning a World Series despite AL pennants in 2010 and 2011 and a wild-card berth in 2012.
He left the Rangers before the end of the 2014 season — stating, at the time, that his decision to leave was because he had been unfaithful to his wife. Of the nature of his departure from the Rangers, Minasian said Wednesday that he had done his due diligence and felt comfortable hiring Washington.
Washington had been trying to return to a managerial position since then, interviewing with at least three other clubs over the years, he said, but he never stopped believing his next opportunity would come.
He has a World Series ring, having been an integral part of the 2021 campaign of the Atlanta Braves, the team he had been the third base coach for since the 2017 season.
Angels new manager Ron Washington, left, and general manager Perry Minisian hug during a news conference Wednesday at Angel Stadium.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
And he spoke with more than just determination, but a conviction in the Angels, with his confidence in himself and down-to-the-soul belief in a better Angels future paving the way.
The Angels have not reached the playoffs since 2014 and have eight straight losing seasons. In addition, Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani is a free agent and could leave the team. While some view the roster as weak, Washington sees potential.
“I really have been, since I’ve been here these past three days, focusing in on these young arms we got,” Washington said. “I am very impressed with the young arms we got. That’s why we trying to find us a pitching coach to guide them in the right direction.
“Pitching and defense is the key to success. The rest of it, I’m going to take care of as we move along. … The defense, you’re looking at the best in the business, and that’s not patting myself on the back. That’s a fact.”
The Houston Astros have won the AL West six of the last seven seasons. The Rangers won this season’s World Series.
While some view beating the top teams in the division as a tall order, Washington says so what.
“Yeah, the Astros [have] been there,” Washington said matter-of-factly. “When I took over in Texas, guess who was the big dog? The Angels. And what happened? We ran them down. So my intent is to run Houston down.
“I’m not saying that’s gonna happen this year. But we don’t know when it’s gonna happen. I can tell you what, we’re gonna get back on top.”
Washington’s official candidacy for the Angels job began with a dinner with Minasian in New Orleans a few weeks ago — though Washington’s familiarity with the Minasian family dates back much further. After that, Washington was invited to meet with Minasian and other members of the front office in Scottsdale, Ariz., for a brunch on the Tuesday of the general manager meetings last week.
Team owner Arte Moreno picked Washington up from the airport and Minasian and the rest of the Angels contingent talked with him for more than three hours, Minasian said, and he was offered the job. The next day, the Angels announced Washington as their new manager.
Washington’s Angels have already secured their new third base coach, Eric Young Sr., who followed Washington from Atlanta, as well as their new infield coach, Ryan Goins. Washington also said Wednesday that he knows who his first base coach is, though he did not give a name. The Angels confirmed Bo Porter as their new first base coach on Friday. The Angels also confirmed on Friday that they promoted Jerry Narron to major league catching coach after previously serving as their minor league catching coordinator. The Angels subsequently named Johnny Washington as their hitting coach and Barry Enright as pitching coach.
Next up on Washington’s agenda: making calls to the team’s biggest leaders for the foreseeable future: Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon.
Washington and Dave Roberts of the Dodgers are the only Black managers in the majors, after Dusty Baker retired from his position with the Astros last month. Washington replaces Phil Nevin, whose contract for next season was not picked up by the Angels.
NEW YORK — Juan Soto hit a tying single in the seventh inning, Francisco Alvarez delivered a big double in his return from the minors and the New York Mets rallied past the Angels 7-5 on Monday night.
Brett Baty launched a two-run homer for the Mets, who erased an early four-run deficit to match their largest comeback victory this season. They scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on an error by catcher Logan O’Hoppe, and Brandon Nimmo added a sacrifice fly that made it 7-5.
Brooks Raley (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth in his second outing since coming back from Tommy John surgery, earning his first win since April 2024.
Edwin Díaz struck out the 2-3-4 hitters in the ninth for his 20th save in 22 opportunities.
Taylor Ward had three RBIs for the Angels, who tagged ineffective Mets ace Kodai Senga for four earned runs in three innings. O’Hoppe, who grew up on Long Island about 45 miles from Citi Field, hit a solo homer.
Baty’s homer off starter Tyler Anderson trimmed it to 4-2 in the fourth.
Trailing 5-2, the Mets loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh. Francisco Lindor beat out a potential double-play ball to drive in a run, then stole second. Soto tied it when he grounded a two-run single off reliever Reid Detmers.
Key moment: José Fermin (2-1) walked Baty with one out in the eighth, and he went to third when Alvarez doubled off the right-field fence over Chris Taylor’s head.
Third baseman Luis Rengifo went to his knees to snag a grounder by pinch-hitter Ronny Mauricio, then spun around and had difficulty getting the ball out of his glove. Rengifo’s low, wide throw to the plate went off O’Hoppe’s mitt, allowing Baty to score.
Key stats: Senga had permitted three earned runs or fewer in 31 straight starts dating to June 23, 2023, which was the longest active streak in the majors. … Lindor went 0 for 5 and is hitless in his last 26 at-bats. … Anderson is winless in 16 starts since beating San Francisco on April 18. He is 0-6 during that stretch.
PHILADELPHIA — José Soriano limited Philadelphia to two runs in seven innings, Taylor Ward had a three-run double and the Angels beat the Phillies 8-2 on Sunday for a series victory.
Soriano (7-7) gave up six hits and struck out five. He was touched for a run in the second inning on an RBI single by Rafael Marchan, and the Phillies mustered little else until Otto Kemp’s two-out home run in the sixth.
The Angels scored five runs in the second against Ranger Suarez (7-4), who yielded six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Zach Neto singled in a run in the second, and Ward followed with his three-run double. LaMonte Wade Jr. homered in the sixth.
Key moment: With a run in and the bases loaded in the second, Mike Trout worked a full count against Suarez. The next pitch looked borderline, and plate ump Steven Jaschinski called it a ball. That forced in a second Angels run to Suarez’s chagrin. He was really unhappy after the Angels’ next hitter, Ward, cleared the bases.
Key stat: The Phillies’ Kemp, replacing injured Alec Bohm at third base, committed two errors. That’s three errors in six starts at third for Kemp, who has split another 24 games between first base and left field with only one error.
Up next: The Angels take on the New York Mets in a three-game series beginning Monday night, with Tyler Anderson (2-6, 4.34 ERA) set to oppose the Mets’ Kodai Senga (7-3, 1.39). The Phillies host Boston for three beginning Monday night, with Zack Wheeler (9-3, 2.36) facing the Red Sox’s Walker Buehler (6-6, 6.12).
Nolan Schanuel injured
The Angels’ Nolan Schanuel was hit by a pitch and left the team’s game against the Phillies on Sunday.
(Matt Slocum / Associated Press)
Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel was removed from the game after being hit by a pitch.
Schanuel appeared to take a changeup from Suarez off the upper wrist of his left arm in the first inning. He hurried down the first base line in obvious pain. After being checked by a trainer, Schanuel remained in the game.
Schanuel did not play the field in the bottom of the inning. Wade replaced him at first base, batting second.
The Angels said Schanuel was diagnosed with a left wrist contusion and is listed as day to day.
Schanuel is hitting .274 with eight home runs and 40 RBIs through 95 games in this, his third season.
PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber hit a grand slam in the sixth inning and Bryce Harper capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the eighth, carrying the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-5 win over the Angels on Saturday night.
Schwarber’s shot to right field off reliever José Fermin was his eighth career grand slam and 32nd homer of the season.
Taylor Ward and Jo Adell hit back-to-back home runs for the Angels in the fourth inning for a 3-1 lead that wouldn’t stand after Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi left after five solid innings.
The Phillies ruined what could have been a big inning in the first, when Schwarber and Trea Turner got caught in rundowns and were tagged out on the same grounder by Harper. Nick Castellanos followed that with a two-out, RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
The Angels turned it around in the fourth on Ward’s and Adell’s home runs. Zach Neto also plated a run with a single that inning but the Angels left the bases loaded.
The Phillies got a run back on Turner’s RBI single in the fifth. Yoan Moncada hit a home run in the sixth to restore a two-run Angels lead.
Seth Johnson (1-0) struck out two in one inning of work. Sam Bachman (2-3) took the loss.
Schwarber’s 32nd homer moved him into a tie for second in the National League with the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani before Ohtani hit his 33rd Saturday night. Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez hit two home runs Saturday, which gave him 33.
