'We're not going to roll over': Halos show fight, walk off Texas

ANAHEIM -- Even as the Angels kept finding disheartening ways to lose and fall just short with late rallies early this season, manager Phil Nevin continually praised his club for its ability to fight.

So when the Angels finally completed a late comeback against the Cardinals on Wednesday, he joked that it was nice to finally have one go their way. But it’s starting to become a bit of a trend this week, as two days after shocking the Cardinals with a three-run ninth inning, the Angels erased a late four-run deficit to Texas on Friday night at Angel Stadium, winning in the 10th on a wild pitch with Anthony Rendon at the plate.

It capped a thrilling 5-4 win over the Rangers, helping the Angels tie Texas atop the American League West. It was the Angels’ first walk-off win of the season and their first since Sept. 6, 2022, against the Tigers. At 19-14 after their fifth straight victory, they’re also five games over .500 for the first time since May 30, 2022.

“It's nice to have one go our way again, but there was just a lot of good things that we did tonight to get us to that point,” Nevin said. “We showed resiliency. We did some really good things.”

After closer Carlos Estévez continued his impressive run by holding the Rangers scoreless in the 10th, the Angels liked their chances in the bottom half of the inning with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Rendon due up, with Zach Neto on second base as the automatic runner.

Trout was intentionally walked and Ohtani followed with a forceout to put runners at the corners. The Rangers brought in Josh Sborz, but his first pitch to Rendon went to the backstop to give the Angels the victory as Neto scampered home. Rendon, though, was already the perfect hitter to have at the plate, as he’s driven in a runner from third with less than two outs nine times in 11 tries this year.

“I’ve seen stranger things, but we were hoping for anything there,” Nevin said. “I felt like I had the right guy at the plate with Anthony. No matter who's on the mound, I think he's still probably the best in baseball getting the guy in from third base. So I felt comfortable with who was up. I'll take them anyway we can get ‘em.”

It helped the Angels overcome several defensive miscues and lefty Tyler Anderson's control problems, as he walked five and hit a batter in five innings. But Anderson pitched his way out of several jams and long reliever Jaime Barría was the unsung hero, throwing four strong innings in relief. He gave up just one unearned run on three hits and has posted a 2.21 ERA in 20 1/3 innings this year.

“Barría was unbelievable,” Nevin said. “And Tyler threw the ball better than he deserved numbers-wise.”

The Angels trailed by four runs heading into the eighth but chipped away with an RBI single from Trout with two outs. They rallied for three runs in the ninth against closer Will Smith, as Chad Wallach provided a pinch-hit two-run double off the right-field wall with two outs before Luis Rengifo brought in the tying run with a single to shallow center.

“It was awesome,” Wallach said. “To bring it within one with a double right there, it got me pumped up and the guys in the dugout, too. It was pretty cool. It just kind of shows what we're made of. We’re not going to roll over. We’re going to fight until the last out. The last two out of three shows that.”

The comeback helped make up for a few errors and mistakes early in the game, most notably in a two-run fourth inning. Left fielder Taylor Ward lost a deep fly ball from Marcus Semien in the twilight sky that resulted in a hard-luck RBI ground-rule double. Anderson then struck out Robbie Grossman for a pivotal out before inducing a hard-hit grounder to short from Nathaniel Lowe. But Neto made his first career error, as his throw pulled Brandon Drury off the first-base bag, resulting in the second run of the inning.

Rendon also made a throwing error in the eighth that led to a run. But the Angels balanced the uneven defensive moments with several strong defensive plays throughout the night, including a diving snare by Rendon in the second and a sliding catch by Hunter Renfroe in right field in the ninth.

“Thank God we have a great team that never stops fighting out there,” Anderson said. “It’s incredible. It’s so much fun to watch and be a part of.”