three-run homer

BALTIMORE — Zach Neto hit a three-run home run to lift the Angels over the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 in the final game of the series on Thursday afternoon.

Wade Meckler singled on a ground ball in the third inning that was overthrown by Orioles starting pitcher Brandon Young at first, advancing him to second. Nolan Schanuel was then walked to set up Neto’s 411-foot homer that went over the center-field wall.

Schanuel hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh for Meckler to score the fourth run of the game.

Angels pitcher Mitch Farris (1-3) entered the game in the fifth inning in relief of starter Ryan Johnson. Farris pitched one inning, struck out two and walked one. Johnson pitched the first 4 2/3, where he walked five and struck out one. He gave up three hits and one earned run. Samy Natera Jr. earned his second save after striking out two in the final 1 1/3 innings.

Yohel Pozo hit a solo home run in the third for the only run for the Orioles. It was his first in an Oriole uniform since coming to Baltimore after getting claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals in July.

Young (8-3) pitched 4 1/3 innings in the loss, giving up six hits. He struck out four and walked two.

Up next

The Angels have not yet named a starter for Friday as they kick off a three-game series at Miami. The Marlins will start RHP Tyler Phillips (3-5, 3.53 ERA).

SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee hit three-run homers, Robbie Ray pitched six shutout innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Angels 9-2 on Saturday.

Devers and Casey Schmitt opened the scoring with RBI singles in the third before Lee lined a sweeper 365 feet into the right-field stands to extend the Giants’ lead to 5-0.

Luis Arraez added a one-run single in the fourth, and Devers extended the lead to 9-0 with his team-leading 22nd homer of the season. The homer was Devers’ third since the All-Star break and second in as many days.

Ray (9-6) struck out five and gave up six hits on just 80 pitches before being lifted. Over his last seven games, the 34-year-old left-hander has thrown 43⅓ innings with a 1.04 ERA and a 4-0 record.

Ryan Johnson (2-5) gave up eight runs on eight hits in 3⅓ innings for the Angels. Catcher Tyler Heineman pitched a hitless inning of relief.

Mike Trout drove in Los Angeles’ first run with a bases-loaded, RBI double play in the seventh. Trout, Zach Neto and Jo Adell were all pulled because of the score. Jose Siri was walked in the ninth inning, capping the scoring.

Up next: Angels’ RHP José Soriano (8-6, 3.43 ERA) faces Giants’ LHP Carson Whisenhunt (2-0, 3.38 ERA) in the series finale Sunday.

Kyle Bradish pitched eight shutout innings, Taylor Ward hit a leadoff home run against his former team and the Baltimore Orioles extended their winning streak to three games Monday night with a 6-1 victory over the Angels.

Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer and Bradish (5-7) struck out nine as the Orioles improved to 4-3 on a nine-game trip.

Bradish gave up six hits and one walk. He has 21 strikeouts over his past two starts.

Baltimore was already without second baseman Jackson Holliday (groin) when third baseman Blaze Alexander (knee) exited in the third — leaving outfielder Leody Taveras to play third for the first time in seven seasons. Taveras finished with two hits.

Jorge Soler homered late for the Angels (32-48) in his return from the injured list, but Sam Aldegheri (2-3) gave up five runs and five hits over 4⅔ innings. The Angels had scored 27 runs over their previous three games.

Ward, playing his first game at Angel Stadium as a visitor following an offseason trade, hit the fourth pitch from Aldegheri 419 feet over the wall in center field. It was his 56th career home run at Angel Stadium.

The Angels then saluted Ward, a member of the major league team for eight seasons, with a tribute video in the middle of the first inning.

Baltimore made it 4-0 in the fourth on Mayo’s three-run homer and scored again in the fifth on Pete Alonso’s sacrifice fly. Gunnar Henderson added an RBI triple in the seventh that made it 6-0.

Rico Garcia gave up Soler’s homer in the ninth.

Baltimore (38-42) is 21-6 against the Angels since 2022.

Wade Meckler had quite the homecoming.

The Yorba Linda native dominated in his Angels debut, hitting a first-pitch, three-run homer off Jacob deGrom in his first at-bat and making a sensational catch in foul territory, all in the first inning, to help his hometown team beat the Rangers 9-6 on Friday night at Angel Stadium.

Meckler attended Esperanza High in Anaheim and grew up an Angels fan. After he was called up from Double-A Rocket City on Friday, Meckler finished with two hits in what was the Angels’ highest-scoring game since April 26, when they scored nine in extras against the Royals.

“Yeah, it was pretty cool,” Meckler said. “Just trying to make a play on defense. But getting your first homer up, it’s pretty hard to top that.”

In sending the 97-mph four-seam fastball from deGrom (3-4), a two-time Cy Young Award winner, 403 feet to right center, Meckler became the first Angels player to homer in his first at-bat with the team since Mike Napoli did against the Tigers in 2006.

Meckler was also the first player to hit a homer in their Angels debut since Randal Grichuk did in 2023 against the Braves.

“We know he plays the game hard,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “We’ve seen him play the game the way he does in spring training. 
So I think [Meckler’s] just a naturalist, good baseball player.”

Meckler hit .315 over 111 at-bats with the Angels in spring training, after being claimed off waivers by the franchise in January.

The 26-year-old shared pregame that he grew up rooting for classic Angels names such as Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter and Erick Aybar during the mid-to-late 2000s.

But there was another Angels player Meckler watched growing up: his new teammate, Mike Trout.

“It’s pretty surreal,” Meckler said. “You grew up watching a guy every day on TV for 10 years, and then all of a sudden, he’s a teammate. It’s pretty cool.”

Originally the Giants’ choice with the 256th pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Meckler has struggled to find his footing in the majors. However, his night couldn’t have gone much better.

Suzuki and the middling Angels, at least, would probably like Meckler to stay hot forever. After all, he earned a shot with the big-league club after hitting .343 with 34 hits and 13 RBI through 27 games with Rocket City.

“It feels good,” Meckler said. “It’s been a little bit. Spent a lot of the last couple years injured, grinding through injuries, and it feels good to be healthy and able to compete. I feel like I’m capable of competing. And obviously, it’s really cool to be in the big leagues for your childhood team as well.”

Despite entering on a three-game skid, the Angels came to play to open a three-game series against the Rangers.

Shortstop Zack Neto hit a pair of solo shots: one in the first and another in the eighth. The four-year MLB veteran is up to 12 career lead-off homers and has three in 2026.

“It was a lot of fun,” Neto said. “From one through nine, even the guys on the bench, coming in and doing their job … We had the big hit when we needed it.”

Right-handed starter Grayson Rodriguez also earned his first win of the year after tossing 5 2/3 innings of four-run ball.

In the seventh, Neto preserved the Angels’ 6-5 lead after throwing out Josh Jung at home. Neto caught a strong throw to the infield from Jo Adell after a Brandon Nimmo RBI double.

“I mean, defense wins games,” Neto said.

Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe was banged up during Jung’s play at the plate. However, he shut down any concerns after the win.

“I’ll be at the doc one more time, but I’m fine, O’Hoppe said. “It’s the same feeling that all the headshots feel like. You feel out of it and a little slow, but usually a good night’s sleep takes care of it.”

After Angel Stadium stretched, second baseman Oswald Peraza hit his sixth homer of the year, a solo shot against lefty Jalen Beeks.

Neto hit his second homer of the night in the eighth against righty Chris Martin, and first baseman Nolan Schanuel capped the Angels’ scoring with an RBI single nine pitches later.

“I felt throughout, guys were getting good at-bats,” Suzuki said. “We were getting guys on; there was a couple times we didn’t get them in, but we’re constantly getting guys in position to score.”

The Angels still hold an MLB-worst 18-34 record, but beat the AL West’s second-placed team before an announced crowd of 34,288. Fans in the right-field pavilions continued to chant “sell the team.”