HOUSTON – In perhaps the finest game of his young Major League career, Zach Neto hit two home runs and had a tiebreaking three-run double in the ninth inning as the Angels rallied to win Sunday’s series finale versus the Houston Astros, 9-6.
The win salvaged a game of this weekend’s four-game set at Minute Maid Park, and it was the first victory for the Angels in seven games against the Astros over the past 10 days.
After trailing 4-0 through five innings, Neto cut the deficit in half with a two-run homer in the sixth. In a back-and-forth slugfest, the Angels tied the game in the seventh on a balk by Astros reliever Hector Neris and a Nolan Schanuel sacrifice fly, and they took their first lead in the eighth on Neto’s second homer. In all, he tied his career-high with 6 RBIs in a single game.
The Astros scored two in the bottom of the eighth on RBI hits by Yainer Diaz and Shay Whitcomb, and briefly regained the lead. But the Angels torched Astros closer Josh Hader with four runs in the ninth, including an RBI walk for Taylor Ward and Neto’s 3-run double. In all, Hader recorded just one out while allowing five Angels to reach base, and Neto’s double – which he pulled down the left-field line off a 96-mile-per-hour fastball – chased Hader from the game.
The Astros made things interesting by scoring two more runs in the ninth off RBIs by Diaz and Victor Caratini, but Guillo Zuniga picked up his second career save by striking out Jeremy Pena to end it.
For the Angels (63-93), it’s just one win as they play out the string on a disappointing season that appears likely to end with them in last place in the AL West for the first time since 1999. The Astros (85-71) remain comfortably in first place as they seek their fourth straight division title.
Yet, for a second time in three nights, the Angels’ recently struggling offense showed considerable fight versus a vaunted opponent. And unlike Friday, when the Angels trimmed an 8-3 deficit to 9-7 but couldn’t get over the final hump, Sunday’s comeback bid was completed.
For a franchise whose focus has already shifted to 2025 and beyond, it’s a hopeful sign entering the final days of the 2024 season.
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