Pinch-hitter Travis d’Arnaud singled in Logan O’Hoppe from second with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Los Angeles Angels a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night in Anaheim, Calif.
d’Arnaud lined a 2-2 sweeper from reliever Kyle Backhus (0-1) down the left field line to drive in O’Hoppe, who had been hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a single by Luis Rengifo. It was the sixth walk-off hit of d’Arnaud’s career.
Zach Neto homered and had two hits, Rengifo doubled and had three hits and an RBI, and Nolan Schanuel also had three hits. Yoan Moncada added a two-run homer for the Angels. Kenley Jansen (3-2) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief.
Randal Grichuk went 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double and three RBIs for Arizona, which lost for the seventh time in 10 games. It was the 13th multi-homer game of Grichuk’s career.
Arizona starter Ryne Nelson, who threw 5 1/3 perfect things to begin his last start against Kansas City, was touched for four runs on five hits in the first inning.
Neto led off with his 15th home run, a 447-foot drive to left-center and his seventh leadoff homer of the season. Schanuel followed with a walk and advanced to third on a double by Mike Trout. Taylor Ward then drove in Schanuel with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0, and one out later Moncada hit his homer to right.
Arizona bounced right back in the second to tie it 4-4 on a two-run home run by Grichuk — a 430-foot drive to left — and an RBI double by Alek Thomas, who then scored on a single by Jose Herrera.
The Angels regained the lead 5-4 in the fifth when O’Hoppe walked, stole second and scored a double by Rengifo.
The Diamondbacks tied it at 5-5 in the eighth on Grichuk’s second homer and seventh of the season, a 411-foot blast to center.
–Field Level Media
