ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Angels avoided being swept for the first time this season after Zach Neto lifted them with a solo home run to left field in the eighth inning for a 4-3 victory Thursday night.
Neto's home run came after the Angels (12-12) tied the game at 3 in the fourth inning with a two-run home run by Logan O'Hoppe.
pic.twitter.com/pDHhQLPEA8 Zach Neto gives the Angels the lead in the 8th inning.
— Thomas Murray (@Thomas_L_Murray) April 25, 2025
Neto had his first multi hit performance going 3-4 at the plate this season. It was also the second time he hit a home run since being activated off the injured list on Friday.
Prior to Thursday night, the Angels offense has been in a rut as of late, scoring just three and collecting seven hits while striking out 24 times.
On Thursday, they collected 6 hits and minimized strikeouts down to seven.
"It's a momentum boost," Neto said. "...It's going to be a lot of adversity but you know we're here for it."
The Angels began Thursday night, similar to how they ended Wednesday night.
Giving up 9 runs the night before, the Pirates offense picked up where they left off to begin the game, scoring 3 runs in the first two innings including leadoff home runs by O'neil Cruz and Matt Gorski.
The Pirates' (10-16) second run came from Andrew McCutchen scored after Ke'Bryan Hayes reached first on a fielders choice in the first inning.
Facing a 3-0 deficit, the Angels found life in the fourth inning.
Mike Trout led off the inning with a triple to right field. In the next at-bat, Taylor Ward came up to the plate and hit the ball down the middle for an RBI single.
Trout has been in a slump for the Angels as of late, going 0-9 prior to Thursday's game. Despite just having the lone triple, Trout continued to make great contact all night long and showed signs of life.
After Ward's at bat, O'Hoppe came up to the plate.
Sitting in a 1-1 count, O'Hoppe notched his sixth home run of the season towards right field to tie the game at 3.
pic.twitter.com/njO2mB2qxc
— Thomas Murray (@Thomas_L_Murray) April 25, 2025
The Angels, who have been in a funk as of late, just tied the game within three at-bats. @SportingTrib @TaylorBlakeWard #RepTheHalo
"We know what we're capable of doing so it was good to see it come to fruition," O'Hoppe said. "It's been obviously a tough couple of day but no one's surprised by tonight."
Angels starting pitcher Tyler Anderson settled down quickly after giving up the early three runs. Once the Angels tied the game in the fourth, Anderson seemed to have settled down on the mound.
"I felt early on I was making bad pitches first and falling behind a lot too. So I felt like I wasn't doing a good job competing in the zone." Anderson said
Despite hitters making great contact, he managed to limit the Pirates' offense to six hits while walking zero batters through six innings.
In the 9th inning, Kenley Jansen came in to earn the save. The Pirates wouldn't make it easy.
Adam Frazier came in to pinch hit for Jared Triolo with one out.
Fraizer hit a sure pop fly out to right field leading to both Trout and Paris looking to record the second out.
As the two started to draw closer together, Trout laid off and would let Paris make the play but at the last second, Paris lost sight of the ball letting it land between the two and giving Frazier a base hit.
Nonentheless, Jansen stayed poised on the mound and had to face two more batters.
The first batter was Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Jansen managed to strike him out. The next batter was Cruz.
As Jansen threw his last pitch of the night to Cruz, he lined out to right field after making contact on a ball that went over 118 MPH into Trout's glove for the final out. Jansen was rewarded the save, he now has six while Ryan Zeferjahn earned his second win of the season.