ANAHEIM — On the first day that the Angels put all three of their presumptive core position players at the top of the lineup, Zach Neto gave a peek at how that might work.
Neto blasted a go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning, helping the Angels to a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night.
Neto, who also walked and singled, was batting behind Nolan Schanuel (a walk) and ahead of Logan O’Hoppe (a single).
Manager Ron Washington had been reluctant to put the young players in premium lineup spots because he didn’t want them to change their approaches, but the Angels have had so many injuries and slumps that he finally relented.
With two outs and the bases empty in the seventh, No. 9 hitter Michael Stefanic punched a single up the middle. Schanuel then walked. Neto fouled off a couple 3-and-2 pitches from Huascar Brazoban before ripping a cutter over the left-field fence. It was his 14th homer of the seson.
The late rally helped the Angels bounce back immediately after veteran right-hander Hunter Strickland had blown a 2-0 lead by allowing a J.D. Martinez grand slam in the top of the inning.
After Neto’s homer restored the lead, left-hander Matt Moore gave up a double and then got two outs in the eighth.
Ben Joyce entered and picked up the last four outs for his first big league save.
Joyce got Tyrone Taylor on a grounder to end the eighth, stranding the tying run at third, and then went through the top of the Mets order in the ninth. He got Francisco Lindor on a fly ball to left. Neto made a bare-hand grab and throw off a bouncer to retire Brandon Nimmo. Joyce then struck out J.D. Martinez on a 104.7 mph fastball that was the hardest pitch thrown in the majors this season.
Joyce, who is poised to become the Angels closer after they traded Carlos Estévez and Luis Garcia, has not allowed a run in his last 22-2/3 innings.
Joyce finished the game after six scoreless innings from José Soriano, another bright piece of the Angels pitching future.
Soriano’s emergence has been arguably the Angels single most positive development of the entire season, given the need for young, quality starting pitching.
Soriano, 25, still has four years of control beyond this one. He has a 3.47 ERA in 20 games, including 18 starts.
His 99 mph sinker is a ground-ball machine, which is why he’s been pitch-efficient enough to get through at least six innings in 10 starts.
That’s added up to 103-2/3 innings, which in itself is the biggest question facing him over the season’s final two months.
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In 2019, Soriano threw 82-1/3 innings at Class-A and below, working mostly as a starter. The following spring, he had his first of two Tommy John surgeries in 16 months.
Soriano had pitched a total of 78-1/3 innings at all levels in 2022 and 2023 combined, including 65-1/3 innings last year.
Washington said before Saturday’s game that they will watch Soriano closely, but so far see no signs he needs his workload reduced.
“He hasn’t showed us that he’s weakening,” Washington said. “If we see anything, we’re not going to try to push him to do something just to get something out of him.”
More to come on this story.
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