ANAHEIM — The Angels didn’t hold a lead for long on Sunday afternoon, but they held one last
Logan O’Hoppe hit a walk-off two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the Angels to a 9-7 win against the Houston Astros in the finale of their three-game series at Angel Stadium.
After Kevin Pillar delivered a one-out single off Houston closer Josh Hader (3- 4), O’Hoppe hit the first pitch just out of the reach of leaping left fielder Trey Cabbage and into the seats for the walk-off win.
O’Hoppe had four hits and scored three runs for the Angels (25-40), who trailed 7-5 heading to the bottom of the eighth.
Angels starter Patrick Sandoval allowed five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three.
Carlos Estevez (1-3) earned the win in relief.
Jose Altuve was the biggest menace for the Astros (30-36) on Sunday. He went 4 for 5 with a two-run homer, three RBIs and two runs scored.
O’Hoppe doubled to lead off the eighth for his third hit of the game and Zach Neto came through with a one-out double to cut it to 7-6.
After a wild pitch moved Neto to third, Moniak walked in the same at-bat
Michael Stefanic, who was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday, then hit a check-swing grounder to second that scored Neto to tie it 7-7.
The Angels took their first lead of the series after Kevin Pillar one-hopped the wall in right-center field for a double, O’Hoppe singled just in front of Dubon in left and Schanuel delivered a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.
It didn’t last long as Dubon walked to lead off the third after falling behind 0-2. Abreu then lined a two-strike pitch into left field for a single. After striking out McCormick, Altuve dropped an RBI single into center field to tie it 1-1.
Sandoval then got two strikes on Alex Bregman before he grounded an RBI double just inside the third-base line to give Houston a 2-1 lead. Alvarez was walked intentionally to load the bases and Jeremy Pena followed with an RBI single through the left side to make it 3-1.
The Angels tied the game back up in the fourth.
Calhoun reached on a swinging bunt to start the inning, Pillar was hit by a pitch and O’Hoppe grounded a single to left to load the bases. Schanuel then delivered his second sacrifice fly of the game to cut the lead to 3-2.
After another hit batter by Verlander, Moniak dropped a bunt in front of Bregman at third. He got a force at second just as Pillar crossed the plate to tie it 3-3.
The Angels moved back ahead in the fifth after Rengifo fouled off three two-strike pitches before grounding a single through the right side. Rengifo stole second and scored on a single by Calhoun for a 4-3 lead.
Sandoval got the first two outs of the sixth, but couldn’t finish off the inning. Dubon singled to left and came home on a double down the left-field line by Abreu, tying the score at 4-4 and ending the day for Sandoval.
Hunter Strickland entered and surrendered an RBI single to McCormick for a 5-4 lead. Altuve then hit the next pitch over the fence in left-center field for a 7-4 lead.
Bregman did not come out for the bottom of the sixth after he was hit by a pitch from Strickland. Duhon replaced him at third and immediately committed the first of his two fielding errors on a hard ground ball by O’Hoppe, who eventually scored on a two-out single by Moniak to trim the lead to 7-5.
It marked the first time in 16 games the Angels scored more than four runs.