As the MLB regular season only has five weeks left in it, the Los Angeles Angels are seeking to close out a rough 2026 season strong. Having a record of 52-79 entering a nine-game homestand against the Cleveland Guardians, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees, the Angels are seeking to disrupt the playoff picture in both leagues as they play quite a few teams who are either competing for playoff positions or trying to improve their current postseason spot situation. The Halos just did some in-division disruption in their Texas two-step road trip as they won their first road series in three months against the Houston Astros in a historic blowout and nearly won two or three games against the Texas Rangers. The AL West is set to have a team with a historically-low run differential and record win the division and whoever wins the division could host a best of three Wild Card series against another mediocre team who manages to secure the third Wild Card spot in the American League. There were also a couple of injuries suffered by key Angels players, leading to the call-up of two players who were on the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. Also, one notable Halo hitter performed so well on the recent road trip that he won the Player of the Week award for the American League. Let’s get to all three of these news bits for the Angels below.
Historic Blowout in Houston Gives Angels Their First In-Division Road Series Win of 2026 Season
On Thur, Aug 20, the Angels faced the Houston Astros in the series finale of a three-game set at Daikin Park. Both teams split the first two games as the Halos won 3-1 in the opener and Houston hung on to win 3-2 in the middle game. Grayson Rodriguez started the game in a homecoming outing for the Nacogdoches, Tex native while the Astros had Peter Lambert start the game for them.
The game started with an early scoring chance for the Halos as Wade Meckler got a leadoff single and stole second base when Mike Trout struck out. Meckler advanced to third on a fly out by Nolan Schanuel and scored on an RBI single by Zach Neto, who got caught stealing to end the top of the first. In the bottom of the first, Rodriguez couldn’t find the strike zone as he threw eight of his first nine pitches for balls. Walking the first two batters for Houston, Rodriguez gave up a single to Isaac Paredes and surrendered a run on a botched throw to home plate by Vaughn Grissom. But with the bases loaded and no outs, Rodriguez managed to strike out the next two batters. Unfortunately, during an at-bat to Cam Smith, Rodriguez threw a wild pitch that scored Paredes and gave the Astros a 2-1 lead.
However, an offensive onslaught by the Halos was about to get going in the second inning as Moisés Ballesteros hit a leadoff double and Grissom brought him in to tie the game. Josh Lowe got a single that advanced Grissom to third and Tyler Heineman put down a good sacrifice bunt that scored Grissom to give the Halos a 3-2 lead. A wild pitch by Lambert advanced Lowe to third base as Adam Frazier hit a ball that was fielded by LaMonte Wade Jr, who fired the ball to home plate and Christian Vazquez attempted to tag Lowe, who slid in feet first to the plate. The home plate umpire called Lowe out, but Kurt Suzuki challenged the call at the plate. After a lengthy review, the ruling on the field was overturned as Lowe was safe and the Angels were up 4-2. With some run support, Rodriguez started to settle in and pitched a lot of clean innings.
The runs kept coming for the Halos in the fourth inning as Lowe hit a leadoff single and went to second base on another sac bunt by Heineman. Frazier came up and hit an 0-2 fastball to center field that landed in for an RBI double that scored Lowe. A couple of walks were issued by Lambert to load the bases for Schanuel, who popped out to Paredes for the second out of the inning. Neto came up with a big chance to extend the lead and on the first pitch, he hit the ball on a line drive to left field and Frazier scored as the bases were reloaded. Joe Espada took the ball from Lambert and brought in Bryan King to face Ballesteros in a lefty-lefty matchup with the sacks full.
Ballesteros would shake off some rust that he had in his first couple of weeks as an Angel as he hit a 3-1 fastball to the left side and the ball went into the outfield. Both Meckler and Trout scored as Ballesteros had a two-run single extend the Halos’ lead to 8-2. Grissom kept the gravy train going as he hit a sweeper to left field to score two more runs. It was a six-run fourth inning for the Angels, who had scored double-digit runs in a game for the first time since July 8.
With a 10-2 lead through four innings, the Halos were not satisfied as they scored again in the fifth. An RBI force out by Schanuel with the bases loaded made it 11-2 and with two outs, Neto came up again. On a 2-0 count, Neto hit a fastball out to deep left center field. The ball went over the fence for a three-run shot. It was a five-RBI game for Neto, who had all his run-scoring hits occur with two outs. A 14-2 lead for the Angels, who had matched their season-high from May 30 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Halos and Neto kept the offense flowing in the seventh, as a couple of walks by Jose Siri and Trout led Neto to hit a two-run double to center field. It was a seven-RBI game for Neto, who had a career high in RBIs for a single game. Rodriguez pitched seven solid innings and didn’t give up any runs after the first inning. The Angels got a couple of more runs as LaMonte Wade Jr entered to pitch as a position player pitcher. A double by Oswald Peraza set up Denzer Guzman to hit a two-run shot to make it 18-3. Guzman had redeemed himself from a tough situation the night before when he hit a ball to the Crawford Boxes and it didn’t make it all the way up the wall, but it was touched by a middle-aged gentleman sitting in the front row of that left-field section. If the ball had gone over the yellow line and contacted the guy in his seat, then it would have been a three-run shot.
With an 18-2 lead, the Angels were looking great and the Astros did score one run in the bottom of the ninth off Blake Weiman. The final score of the game was 18-3 in favor of the Halos, who had achieved their largest win over Houston in a game ever. Neto had a career night and the entire offense was electric against the Astros, who were not looking good as the mediocre leaders of the AL West last week. The Angels also had gotten their third road series win of the season and their first road series victory against a division opponent in the 2026 MLB season. But this well-earned win did not come without a couple of unfortunate injuries to key players, including one of a hometown hero getting hit in the head.
Meckler & Schanuel Placed on IL Due to Injuries Suffered in Blowout Win, Gustavo Campero & Christian Moore Both Get Called Up From Triple-A
The Angels had to deal with a couple of rough injuries in the week entering the Texas two-step road trip as Samy Natera Jr was placed on the 15-day injured list with back tightness. But a couple more tough injuries happened to valuable hitters in the Halos order in the 18-3 win over the Astros. In the top of the fifth, Wade Meckler got hit in the head on a wild throw by Bryan King. The helmet shielded Meckler somewhat, but he was still evaluated for a concussion and removed from the game. Nolan Schanuel was also taken out of the game with what was called “right side tightness” by the Angels training staff.
A couple of days later, Meckler was placed on the 7-day concussion IL and Schanuel was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right intercostal muscle strain. Losing two of the best hitters on the team was pretty tough for a Halos team that hasn’t dealt with as many injuries to key players in this season as they have in past years. With Meckler on the IL, the Angels needed an extra outfielder and they called up Gustavo Campero from Triple-A Salt Lake. Campero had only played in 23 games in the minors due to a fractured hand and he appeared in 28 games for the Halos in the 2025 season before suffering a broken foot in a Freeway Series game against the Dodgers in August. Campero’s return was much needed as his switch-hitting fashion definitely gives the lineup some flexibility. Meanwhile, with Schanuel on the IL, an extra infielder would be called up and it was none other than Christian Moore, who played in six games at the big league level in June before being sent back down to Triple-A. Moore had kept his hot-hitting ways in the Pacific Coast League going and now was given an early call-up to be on the big league roster for the rest of the season. Now earning the lion’s share in starts at second base, Moore will have plenty of opportunities to show why he can serve as an important piece of a rebuilding Angels squad for plenty of years to come.
In the final two games of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers, Campero got three hits while Moore hit a double in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss on Sun, Aug 23. With luck, both of these players can stay on the roster even after Meckler and Schanuel return as the big league rosters expand to 28 players on Sept 1.
Zach Neto Wins American League Player of the Week Award For Outstanding Offensive Showing in Lone Star State Road Trip
For the second time in his career, Zach Neto has won a player of the week award as he had an incredible time swinging the bat in both indoor ballparks that the Angels visited on their recent road trip. Neto got 14 hits in 28 at-bats while driving in nine runs.
With a team-leading 22 home runs and 62 RBIs, Neto leads the Angels in doubles and stolen bases as well. Seeking to attain a rare feat for a shortstop in being the team leader in four different offensive stats, Neto is elevating his offensive numbers and in turn raising his potential trade value in the offseason after he was not dealt at the trade deadline by the Angels’ front office led by John Mozeliak.
For now, the Angels are seeking to avoid their first 100-loss season in franchise history and also looking to evade a potential third straight finish in last place in the AL West division standings. With five weeks of competition left, the Halos are seeking to play spoiler to plenty of teams’ playoff hopes and positioning in the 2026 regular season. A few more exciting moments could occur for this team in an otherwise dull season.
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