ANAHEIM — Travis d’Arnaud had a simple explanation this week for his recent hot streak, saying he was just trying “to be consistent, stay calm and have a slow heartbeat” when he steps to the plate.
The veteran catcher displayed all of those qualities in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, stroking a pinch-hit RBI single to left field to give the Angels a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Angel Stadium.
“You’re never going to see panic with him,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said when asked about d’Arnaud falling behind 0-and-2 against sidearm-throwing left-hander Kyle Backhus. “I’m trying to get a heartbeat from him. He’s such a pro. He’s been in that spot a lot. So I feel really good about the at-bat.”
Logan O’Hoppe sparked the winning rally when he was hit by a pitch with one out. Luis Rengifo lined a single to center, and d’Arnaud, batting for Gustavo Campero, delivered the fifth walk-off hit of his career.
“I was trying not to do too much, knowing a single would put us ahead,” d’Arnaud said. “I was just trying to hit the ball on the barrel. Luckily, I got a sweeper that didn’t hit the ground and was able to float it over the third baseman’s head for a hit.”
That relaxed approach has fueled a superb 17-game stretch in which d’Arnaud has hit .291 (16 for 55) with five home runs, two doubles and 13 RBIs since June 3.
“I’m not overthinking anything,” d’Arnaud, 36, said. “I think early on, I was pressing too much to hit home runs or if a runner’s on first, I was trying to hit a grand slam, when all I had to do is hit the ball on the barrel and take my single. That’s where my mind has been, and that’s why I’m getting rewarded.”
The Angels took a 5-4 lead on Rengifo’s RBI double in the fifth, and they got perfect relief innings from left-hander Brock Burke in the sixth and right-hander Jose Fermin, who struck out two of three batters in the seventh.
But left-hander Reid Detmers, who had his 22-inning scoreless streak snapped in Wednesday night’s win against the Texas Rangers, gave up a score-tying homer to Randal Grichuk in the eighth.
Angels closer Kenley Jansen threw a scoreless ninth, getting Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play, to keep the score tied.
“They’re asked to do a lot every night, and they’ve continued to answer the bell,” Montgomery said of the bullpen. “I mean, we had one bad pitch out of four innings out of the bullpen, and it was just unfortunate it happened.”
Angels starter Tyler Anderson reached 10 years of major-league service time Friday, a significant milestone that only 7% of players who make it to the major leagues achieve, but the veteran left-hander didn’t have much to celebrate.
Anderson needed 84 pitches to grind through five innings in which he gave up four runs and eight hits, and he coughed up an early 4-0 lead when he gave up four runs in the second.
But Anderson escaped a two-on, no-outs jam in the third when he struck out Grichuk and got Blaze Alexander to ground into a double play, and he added a scoreless fourth and fifth.
The Angels positioned Anderson for a win by snapping a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the fifth, a rally that featured two rare events, a two-out walk by O’Hoppe, who had drawn 11 free passes in 287 plate appearances entering Friday, and a stolen base by the burly catcher, who had swiped two bags in 267 big-league games before Friday.
That put O’Hoppe in position to score easily on Rengifo’s RBI double to right for a 5-4 Angels lead. But Grichuk’s homer off Detmers prevented Anderson from notching his first victory since April 18, an 11-start stretch in which Anderson has lost six decisions.
“I know it’s been a long time [since my last win], but I haven’t been pitching that great either,” Anderson said. “You get four runs early, you want to go out there and put up a zero, a shut-down inning, and instead you give it right back. So, you can’t really ask for a win there, but in general, I’m trying to keep the team in the game.”
The Angels got off to a great start when Zach Neto sparked a four-run rally in the first with his seventh leadoff homer of the season, a 434-foot bomb to left that tied Brian Downing’s franchise record of seven leadoff homers in 1987.
Nolan Schanuel walked and took third on Mike Trout’s double to left-center. Taylor Ward’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0, and Yoán Moncada blasted a first-pitch fastball from Arizona right-hander Ryne Nelson for a two-run homer to right and a 4-0 lead.
But that vanished five batters into the top of the second, Grichuk crushing a 430-foot two-run homer to left, Alexander and Alek Thomas hitting back-to-back doubles for a run and Jose Herrera adding an RBI single for a 4-4 tie.
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