Jose Soriano threw seven scoreless innings and Zach Neto singled, doubled and homered as the visiting Los Angeles Angels beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 on Thursday in the decisive game of a three-game interleague series.
It was the Angels’ first series win over the Braves since 2017. The Angels have won six of their past games overall. Atlanta fell for the sixth time in the past eight and dropped to eight games under .500.
Soriano (6-5) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out seven. It was a nice bounce-back for the right-hander, who allowed eight runs on nine hits in four-plus innings in his previous start against the Washington Nationals.
Neto, who finished 3-for-5, scored three runs and drove in one.
Braves starter Bryce Elder (2-6) pitched five innings and yielded four runs on eight hits — two of them home runs — with three walks and five strikeouts.
The Angels jumped on top in the first inning. Neto singled, stole second and scored on a single by Jo Adell, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
Los Angeles added a pair of two-out runs in the second inning when Neto doubled and Nolan Schanuel hit a 415-foot homer to straightaway center field. It was Schanuel’s eighth homer, giving him five long balls and 13 RBIs in his past 16 games.
Los Angeles added another run to take a 4-0 lead in the fourth. Neto hit his 13th homer, a solo shot to right-center field.
The Angels touched reliever Enyel De Los Santos for a run in the sixth. With two outs, Mike Trout walked and scored on Taylor Ward’s triple to left.
The Braves didn’t score until the ninth inning against reliever Brock Burke. Jurickson Profar hit a solo homer for the second straight night.
Atlanta’s Matt Olson went 1-for-4 and extended his on-base streak to 33 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the major leagues. Gary Sheffield holds the club record with a run of 52 games in 2002.
–Field Level Media
