Zach Neto's 3-run HR sparks Angels to win over Orioles

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on Aug 6, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — Count Kurt Suzuki’s lineup switch as a success.

On the day the Angels’ manager moved slumping Zach Neto out of the leadoff spot and into the cleanup spot, Neto hit a three-run homer to lift the Angels to a 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Wade Meckler, who was moved into the top spot in the lineup, reached base twice and scored both times Thursday.

The Angels (44-71) have been struggling to score runs. Plenty of hitters were scuffling, including Neto. He was in a 5-for-40 slump with 16 strikeouts, leading into Suzuki’s lineup switch. He had not hit a homer since July 5.

“Just trying to mix things up a little bit,” Suzuki said before the game.

In Neto’s first trip to the plate in the second inning, he hit a popup that shortstop Jackson Holliday lost in the sun, so he got a single. The Angels loaded the bases with no outs but didn’t score.

Neto came up again in the third, after Meckler singled and Nolan Schanuel walked.

This time he hit a 411-foot homer over the center-field fence, giving him his third consecutive 20-homer season and putting the Angels up 3-0.

Although the Angels ended up with only four runs, they gave themselves plenty of opportunities with nine hits and five walks. They were 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles didn’t do much better with their scoring opportunities against Angels right-hander Ryan Johnson.

Johnson brought a 7.63 ERA into the game, but the trade of José Soriano allowed him to get another opportunity to start.

In the first three innings, Johnson allowed eight baserunners, which included five walks. The only run he allowed was on a solo homer.

The Angels’ defense bailed him out by turning two double plays. Catcher Moises Ballesteros also threw out a runner trying to steal second.

Johnson then retired five straight hitters in the fourth and fifth before giving up a single to Pete Alonso, ending his day.

It was only the third time in Johnson’s 10 starts that he allowed fewer than three runs.

After that, the Angels got through the rest of the game with a patchwork bullpen. They’d traded away four relievers and placed another one on the injured list in the previous eight days. Hard-throwing right-hander Ben Joyce was unavailable because the Angels aren’t going to use him on back-to-back days while he’s just coming back from shoulder surgery.

Left-hander Mitch Farris (three outs), right-hander Luke Murphy (four) and left-hander Tayler Saucedo (two) got the ball to Samy Natera Jr., who recorded the final four outs for his second save.

In the eighth, Natera got the final out on a nice play from Ballesteros. A wild pitch ricocheted hard off the backstop, right back to Ballesteros, who flipped it to Natera to get the runner trying to score.