Halos' youth goes wild in series finale win vs. Yanks

NEW YORK -- The kids came to play at Yankee Stadium.

Nolan Schanuel sparked it with a leadoff homer, Jo Adell ripped a three-run double as part of a six-run fifth, Zach Neto stayed hot with three more hits and Mickey Moniak delivered both an RBI single and a leaping catch at the wall in center field in a 9-4 win over the Yankees on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.

It completed a series win for the Angels, who displayed their youth with Schanuel (22), Adell (25), Neto (23) and Moniak (26) all playing key roles. It marked their second straight series victory after taking two out of three from the Mets, and it was their first series victory in the Bronx since 2017.

“I don’t think they knew where they was,” manager Ron Washington quipped. “They just went out and played just like they've been doing all year. Just play. I wish the weather would have been nicer so they could have really found out what Yankee Stadium is like. The conditions, we couldn't do anything about it, but I'm so proud of the way they handled themselves.”

It was an encouraging three-game set for the Angels, who didn’t allow the rainy weather and field conditions to affect them on their way to a series win over one of the better teams in baseball.

“It’s huge,” Adell said. “It shows we can be competitive with anybody. With the circumstances sitting around with the rain, we could’ve folded. But we went out and did our jobs. At-bat to at-bat, we were on top of it and the pitching was great.”

Schanuel got them going early with a blast off lefty Nestor Cortes to open the game, giving him his third career leadoff shot and his 12th homer of the year. He added an RBI single in the third to score Michael Stefanic, after he doubled, to give the Angels the lead following Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s solo home run in the second.

“You have to make a team like them work and put pressure on them,” Washington said. “When you get big hits, you usually can come away with a victory, and we did. I'm just so proud of the way we came here and the way we held together through all the weather and everything like that.”

The Angels broke it open in a 55-pitch fifth, when Stefanic singled with one out before Neto added a two-out double. It was yet another extra-base hit for Neto, who went 4-for-9 with two homers, a double and eight RBIs in Wednesday’s doubleheader. It helped ignite a two-out rally against Cortes, with Logan O’Hoppe walking to load the bases and veteran Kevin Pillar plating two runs with a single to knock Cortes from the game.

“It was awesome,” said Stefanic, 28. “There's a great young core here. And I think that this team is going to continue to get better and better. If you score runs with two outs, you’re going to win a lot of ballgames. I just thought we had a good approach.”

Anthony Rendon kept the line moving with a walk off reliever Enyel De Los Santos, setting the stage for Adell’s huge hit that essentially put the game away.

Adell, who has ditched his leg kick in recent weeks and has seen improved results, smacked a 2-2 fastball to right field and Juan Soto couldn’t handle it. Soto made an ill attempt at a diving play and it led to all three runs scoring for the Angels. Moniak followed with an RBI single, but was thrown out at second trying to advance on the throw home to finally end the inning.

“He’s got a really good fastball and good slider, so I was just trying to look for something close to me and something that I can handle,” Adell said. “I went opposite field a couple of times today, which for me is always a telltale sign that I'm over the ball and I'm staying through the ball well.”

It all backed veteran lefty Tyler Anderson, who threw six solid innings to keep his strong season going. The All-Star allowed one run on just three hits and a walk while striking out seven to improve to 9-10 with a 2.99 ERA. He was helped by an impressive play by Moniak to take away an extra-base hit from Soto to open the sixth.

“Nolan set the tone for us to start the game and it was just a good team win today,” Anderson said. “And that catch was awesome. Mickey’s been making great plays all year. But that was a big-time play.”