The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Neto hits two home runs as Angels beat Mariners
Angels shortstop Zach Neto donned a pair of custom cleats and custom batting gloves, fashioned in the style of the team’s popular “City Connect” uniforms, for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Mariners.
Neto might not be allowed to take them off again.
The 22-year-old rookie hit two home runs in a game for the first time, leading the Angels to a 9-4 win before an announced crowd of 39,405 at Angel Stadium. The win capped a 5-1 homestand for the Angels (36-31), who took two of three games from Seattle (31-33) to gain some separation on the fourth-place team in the American League West.
Next up: a trip to Texas to face the division-leading Rangers in a critical four-game series.
“We’re doing the right things,” Neto said. “We’re bringing (runners) in when we need to, situational hitting, things like that. Pitchers are pitching amazing. Bullpen’s holding its own. Our defense is holding its own too. We’re playing all-around good baseball, and that’s going to win you a lot of
ball games.”
Taylor Ward also homered in support of starting pitcher Griffin Canning (5-2), who allowed three earned runs in five innings. The right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out seven.
Relievers Chris Devenski, Jose Soriano and Jimmy Herget did not allow a run over the game’s final four innings.
Ward led off the first inning with a home run against Mariners starter Logan Gilbert (4-4), a portent of things to come. The Angels would score another run in the inning on a Brandon Drury double, followed by an RBI single by Matt Thaiss.
Neto’s fourth home run of the season gave the Angels a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Back-to-back singles by Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, followed by consecutive doubles by Thaiss and Hunter Renfroe, plated three more runs in the third inning.
By then, Canning had ample margin for error with a 6-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Neto scorched a ground ball off the glove of Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford before Ward was hit by a pitch. That was the end of the road for Gilbert, who was ultimately charged with seven runs (six earned) in three innings.
Neto’s second home run, a solo shot off reliever Chris Flexen in the eighth inning, padded the Angels’ lead to 8-4. He scored three of the Angels’ nine runs.
“We all know there’s more power there that I think is going to come later in his career,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said of Neto. “He’ll keep getting better in that. He does something for us to win a game every day, whether it’s with the glove, on the bases running, today hitting a couple home runs. (They) were huge.”
Neto’s .741 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) is fifth among qualified American League rookies. His first multi-homer game came in his 52nd career game.
For comparison’s sake, Trout’s first career multihomer game came in his 21st career game — also against the Seattle Mariners — as a 20-year-old in 2011.
“It’s fun to watch,” Trout said of Neto. “He comes in with the right attitude. Works hard. Wants to learn. It’s fun to see. … He picks my brain. I’m here for him, and I love what I’m seeing.”
Neto’s adidas cleats and gloves prominently feature the cream/navy blue color palette of the Nike-designed City Connect jerseys. They’re not a perfect match for the gray-and-red uniforms the Angels will wear in Texas and Kansas City, but Neto said he was packing the gloves and cleats for the road nonetheless.
Seven other players contributed to Sunday’s 13-hit attack for the Angels, who averaged more than five runs a game during their homestand. They will need every ounce of momentum they can muster against the Rangers. MLB’S most potent lineup is averaging more than six runs a game all season. The two teams are separated by 6 ½ games in the AL West.
“We played clean games — which we didn’t today when we kind of let (Seattle) back into it there, made a couple mistakes defensively — but I think when we play our best, play clean games, swing the bats the way we’re capable of, we can beat anybody,” Nevin said.