Zach Neto’s walk-off homer propels Angels past A’s, ends 6-game skid

ANAHEIM — Within a span of a few minutes, Angel Stadium fans went from protesting to celebrating.

Zach Neto’s two-run, walk-off homer lifted the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Athletics on Monday night, snapping a six-game losing streak.

Just moments earlier, the Angels were on the verge of being no-hit by J.T. Ginn, while the ballpark filled with chants of “sell the team,” from fans angry with owner Arte Moreno about an organization that continues to find new lows.

But Adam Frazier led off the ninth with a hit – extending the franchise’s major-league best hitting streak to 4,179 games, since Sept. 11, 1999 – and then Neto walked it off with a shot into the trees beyond the center field fence.

Neto stood at the plate and watched as the ball sailed, and then he triumphantly slammed his bat to the ground, unleashing weeks of frustration. The Angels (17-31) had lost 21 of their previous 26 games, and Neto had been in a slump for most of that time.

“That was a heavy one, you know,” Neto said. “Six-game losing streak. That one was big for us, not only me but for the for the team. Just to be able to get it off our shoulders and go to sleep tonight good and be able to enjoy it and come in tomorrow with a better attitude and know that we still trust each other. That’s something that we’ve talked about since Day One in spring training. There’s nobody here that does not believe and it’s just a matter of us showing it, and today we showed it.”

Manager Kurt Suzuki and Neto both said that the intensity had been building throughout the game. While the outs piled up on the field, the temperature rose in the Angels’ dugout.

“The deeper we got, the more energy I feel like we had,” Suzuki said. “Honestly I truly believe that’s what pulled us through. The energy, even going into the last inning. Guys were up. They’re ready to rock. They believed we were going to win that game. And and that’s something that’s huge in this game. You can be struggling, but I think that belief, having that belief is is special and it’s going to keep you going.”

Neto said the players were firing each other up in the dugout.

“That was probably the most electric ninth-inning speech that we’ve ever had, in my career, in my life,” Neto said. “We were getting no-hit and everybody was still boosting each other up. ‘Hey, get on base. Hey, let’s do this. Let’s do that.’ Everybody’s still cheering, and that’s what it’s all about. Doesn’t matter what the score is. Doesn’t matter if we have zero hits or 10 hits on the board. We all believe in each other and that’s what it’s all about.”

Neto’s homer, his eighth of the season, was also notable because it went to center field. During his slump, he had clearly been focused on pulling the ball.

“It’s something I’ve been working on, since my slump was over, just trying to use the whole field, just shifting my eyes from that left field bullpen kind of towards the middle of the field,” Neto said.

The Angels were able to squeak out a victory despite their seventh straight game scoring two runs or fewer, the longest streak for the franchise since 2003.

They got exceptional pitching from starter Walbert Ureña, who worked six innings, and reliever Sam Bachman, who didn’t give up a run in his two innings.

Ryan Zeferjahn gave up the game’s first run in the top of the ninth inning, allowing two hits and then walking two in a row. Right-hander Chase Silseth entered with the bases loaded and slugger Nick Kurtz at the plate, and he got him to hit into a double play, preserving the 1-0 deficit.

The emergence of Ureña continues to be one of the few positive developments in this otherwise bleak season.

Ureña, 22, pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits. He walked two and struck out four. Ureña now has a 2.70 ERA in 33⅓ innings, including a 2.84 mark in six starts. He allowed more than two runs in only one of his starts.

The Angels might have even gotten an extra inning out of Ureña if he hadn’t needed to throw some extra pitches because of mistakes from his infielders.

In the third inning, Shea Langeliers hit a routine grounder to third baseman Yoán Moncada with two outs. Moncada fielded it cleanly but hesitated before throwing it, allowing Langeliers to beat the throw.

That brought Kurtz to the plate with two runners on. It took Ureña seven pitches, but he retired Kurtz on a pop-up.

An inning later, Moncada fielded a slow bouncer up the line and then bobbled it, allowing another infield hit. The ball seemed to be on its way foul before Moncada touched it. Neto then simply whiffed on a bouncer up the middle. Ureña finally got out of that inning without a run scoring, too.

“He was great,” Suzuki said of Ureña. “He struggled the first two innings. I know he threw a lot of pitches, got a lot of 3-2 counts. Executed pitches when he had to. Picked some guys up on defense. It was a good team win, for sure.”

Ginn, a 26-year-old right-hander making his 30th career major-league start, was trying for MLB’s first no-hitter since September 2024. He threw 105 pitches, 64 for strikes. He struck out a career-high 10, walked one and hit Neto with a pitch in the sixth.

“He had good stuff all game, man,” Suzuki said. “He was really pitching. Sinker, cutter, changeup, sweeper. Kept them off balance. He pitched a heck of a game.”

UNBELIEVABLE ENDING

ZACH NETO HITS A WALK-OFF HOME RUN! pic.twitter.com/f59JSth4VG

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2026

It's not about how you start, it's how you finish 😤

What an ending for Zach Neto & the @Angels! pic.twitter.com/54K1BwLFuS

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2026