Zach Neto leads Angels’ offense as they finish sweep of Red Sox – Press Enterprise

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ANAHEIM — When Zach Neto made his major league debut at Fenway Park in Boston last month, he pounded four ground balls to third baseman Rafael Devers in his first two games, so his teammates joked with him that there was a whole other side of the field he should try.

Devers and the Red Sox got their second look at the Angels’ rookie shortstop this week, and on Wednesday night he demonstrated his improved approach with three hits – including a three-run home run to right-center field – in the Angels’ 7-3 victory, which completed a sweep.

“Early on, he was trying to get big and probably wanted to hit one out right away,” Manager Phil Nevin said. “He gets in pull mode. … Now he’s using the whole field. If they pitch him away, he’s gonna take the ball the other way.”

Neto’s use of the whole field has helped him raise his batting average to .266 and his OPS to .744. A 22-year-old who was just drafted last July, he began his big league career in a slump for a week or two, but he’s steadily improved since then. He’s hit .409 with an OPS of 1.162 in his last seven games, including the first three-hit game of his young career on Wednesday.

After Neto’s three-run homer in the second, he followed with a single into right-center in the fourth and a double into left field in the sixth.

“I think it’s just swinging at the right pitches and doing damage,” Neto said. “I think I’ve been hitting the ball in front of the plate, so letting it travel a little more, using the other side of the field definitely helps a lot.”

Neto said he didn’t even realize he was a triple away from the cycle when he was standing on deck as the Angels made the third out of the eighth inning.

Neto was on first when Mike Trout blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning, putting the Angels ahead, 7-1. It was Trout’s 12th homer of the season, and the 362nd of his career, which passed Joe DiMaggio on the all-time list. Trout has now hit four homers in the last week, after slumping for the first two weeks of May.

Shohei Ohtani also hit his 12th homer of the season, helping the Angels (28-23) win for the sixth time in the past seven games. They equaled their season-high at five games over .500.

The offensive outburst came on a night that starter Tyler Anderson also pitched one of his best games of the season, allowing one run in six innings.

Anderson was facing the same team that hammered him for six runs in four innings – his worst start of the season – on April 15 in Boston. Anderson had a 7.20 ERA through his first four games, but since then he now has a 3.14 ERA over his last five starts.

The Angels helped him out with some good defense on Wednesday.

In the first inning, first baseman Brandon Drury started a 3-6-3 double play. In the second, the Red Sox tried for a double steal, but second baseman Luis Rengifo fired the ball back to catcher Chad Wallach quickly and accurately enough to nail Devers at the plate, ending the inning.

“We’re getting rolling,” Anderson said. “All year, we’ve been playing pretty well but just never felt like things were really all clicking. Seems like now we’re not giving up runs when we’re scoring them. Just having a lot of fun playing. I feel like we’re just kind of rolling and meshing together as a team, which is a lot of fun.”

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