Zach Neto is at it again.
The Los Angeles Angels star drilled a deep leadoff home run on Monday night to kick off their 7-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Anaheim. Neto hit the very first pitch of the night from Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
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The shot was his 18th home run of the year and his eighth leadoff homer of the season, which set a new Angels single-season record.
Brian Downing held the previous record back in 1987. Neither are close to the all-time record, however. Kyle Schwarber hit 15 last season with the Philadelphia Phillies to set the MLB single-season record. Rickey Henderson holds the all-time leadoff record with 81 in his career.
The home run was the 49th of Neto’s career as a shortstop, which is second in franchise history behind only Jim Fregosi. The 24-year-old entered the night holding a .266 batting average with 46 RBI this season, his third in the league.
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The Angels ended up scoring two in the opening inning, thanks to an RBI single from Yoan Moncada.
That start ended up pushing the Angels to the three-run win. They added four runs in the fifth inning, too, thanks to RBI singles from Mike Trout and Moncada and then an RBI from Gustavo Campero. Neto hit another home run in the sixth inning to extend their lead even more, too.
Yamamoto allowed a career-high six runs before he was pulled. He had five walks, which tied his career-high, and his ERA climbed to 2.84, which is its highest mark of the year. Shohei Ohtani hit a solo home run in the eighth inning to finally get them on the board. It was his 42nd shot of the season, and it sparked a bit of a comeback. Max Muncy followed it up with a three-run home run of his own to cut the Angels’ lead to just three.
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Campero went down hard while trying to chase Muncy’s home run down, and awkwardly collapsed near the outfield wall with an apparent leg injury. Rays manager Ray Montgomery said after the game that Campero’s left foot got stuck in the outfield wall and twisted hard as he fell down. The injury led to a long delay while the medical staff stabilized his ankle and carted him off the field. Further specifics of his injury aren’t yet known.
The Angels jumped to 57-62 with the win on Monday night, which kicked off a three-game series with the Dodgers. That has them firmly in fourth in the AL West and on pace to miss the playoffs for an 11th straight season.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, are clinging to a narrow lead in the NL West. They’ve now lost four of their last seven games and dropped to 68-51 with the loss on Monday. The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Monday night, too, which cut the Dodgers’ lead in the division to just a single game.
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