ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After quietly turning into one of the Los Angeles Angels more clutch hitters as of late, Travis d'Arnaud worked his magic again in Monday night's 6-5 victory over the Texas Rangers.
d'Arnaud went 2-4 with a home run and a double in his season-high 3 RBI performance tonight.
Going up against a former teammate and division rival when he used to play for the Atlanta Braves in Jacob deGrom, d'Arnaud got the best of him to start tonight's ball game.
In the second inning, he hit a two run to score Jorge Soler from third base after reaching second from a double earlier in the inning, then later advancing following a ground out by Luis Rengifo.
"I think getting lucky to hit a homer against any CY Young winner is really special," d'Arnaud said.
Working an 0-2 count, d'Arnaud blasted a two-run home run to left field, following a slider in the middle of the strike zone, giving the Angels (44-46) their first lead of the night at 3-2.
Travis d'Arnaud on a 0-2 count sends one out to left field to give the Angels a 3-2 lead over the Rangers. @SportingTrib #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/inIxfMIF9r
— Thomas Murray (@Thomas_L_Murray) July 8, 2025
The Rangers (44-47) regained the lead in the next inning after Adolis Garcia and Jonah Heim hit RBI singles to give Texas a one run lead.
Robert Sloter - THE Sporting Tribune
Travis d'Arnaud #25 hits a two-run home run during a game against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium on July 7, 2025, in Anaheim, California.
But in the sixth inning, the magic of d'Arnaud came again when they tied the game at 4 by scoring Rengifo home from first base following an RBI double hit towards centerfield.
"Again, I got lucky with a pitch that was over the heart of the plate and just tried to hit on the sweet spot."
The result was d'Arnaud scoring from second after an RBI single by LaMonte Wade. After Wade's hit, he was tagged out after being caught in a rundown between first and second.
In the eighth inning, the Rangers tied the game back at five when Sam Bachman gave up an RBI double to Josh Smith.
The Angels managed to hold on after allowing the Rangers to tie it in the eighth, Brock Burke came in to replace Bachman and got Evan Carter to ground out.
In the top of the ninth, Kenley Jansen had a shutdown inning by forcing a double play to start it off, then ended it with a strikeout to Marcus Semien.
"We've been fortunate to see it all year right? Anytime any moment he's called down," Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said about Jansen. "...Put me in the game. He just wants to be a part of it and he's a huge part of it."
With the game tied, Luis Rengifo opened the ninth inning with a double hit towards left field. Two batters later, he advanced to third following a single by Kevin Newman.
The Rangers then elected to load the bases by walking Zach Neto, setting the stage for Nolan Schanuel.
With Holby Milner coming in to replace Christ Martin, Schanuel instantly made them regret that decision.
Down 0-2 in the count, Schanuel saw five more pitches and drew walk off walk to end the game. It was the second time Schanuel had a walkoff this season and the first time the Angels won a game from a walk since Chone Figgins did it in 2008.
This is the #Angels fifth walk-off win of the season and first walk-off walk since Chone Figgins on Aug. 4, 2008 vs. Baltimore.
— Matt Birch (@MattBirch12) July 8, 2025
It is also Schanuel's second career walk-off plate appearance (walk-off RBI single on June 10, 2025 vs. Athletics) https://t.co/i3KCJbW7d0
"First two pitches I was swinging early. And then after that kinda had to take a deep breath. Calm down and knd of let him come to me," Schanuel said. "You don't want to get too amped up. Try to like slow everything down a little bit. Because you as a hitter you still gotta get your pitch. I think that's kind of what I did."