ANAHEIM — Nolan Schanuel feels right at home against left-handed pitching.
Likely because his father, Ryan, was a lefty.
“All my BP sessions were with him,” Schanuel said before the Angels took on the Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of their three-game series on Monday. “I think that helped out a lot.”
The Chicago White Sox learned the hard way on Sunday afternoon.
They brought in left-handed reliever Tyler Alexander to face Schanuel with one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the ninth of a 5-5 game, even though the move would require Alexander to potentially face right-handed power hitters Mike Trout and Taylor Ward.
“Knowing that we have two guys in particular who crush lefties behind me, Trouty and Ward, I was a little bit surprised,” Schanuel said. “I think it added a little motivation to me.”
Schanuel promptly lined a 2-and-2 cutter into right field for a double, Trout was intentionally walked and Ward hit a walk-off three-run homer for a much-needed 8-5 victory that ended a three-game skid.
“Schauny forces teams to make decisions like that,” Angels manager Ray Montgomery said.
Schanuel’s double off Alexander made him 12-for-27 against left-handed relievers this season with two doubles and a home run.
“It might make me more locked in,” Schanuel said of hitting off lefties late in games. “A lot of people don’t think I can hit lefties as good as I hit righties, but growing up my dad was a lefty.”
Schanuel’s offseason strength training is also paying dividends.
His double on Sunday was the 21st of the season, two more than he had last season, his first full year as a major-league first baseman.
“Every time I come back in the yard, I intend to make progress,” he said.
Schanuel’s consistency has also been notable ever since he reached base in his first 30 games with the Angels two years ago, the third-longest streak in MLB history.
Since April, he hasn’t gone more than two games without a base hit.
“The quality of his at-bats every day, every night, every week, every month is pretty much the same, consistency-wise,” Montgomery said. “It speaks to his ability, what he does really well.”
AIR NETO
Angels shortstop Zach Neto homered for the first time in 18 games on Sunday.
Just getting the ball in the air was a struggle earlier in the series.
Neto flew out and popped out on Sunday before blasting a solo homer to left-center field in the sixth inning to get the Angels on the scoreboard after they were blanked for 16 straight innings by the White Sox, who brought the worst record in the AL into the weekend series.
He then belted a two-run double into the left-center field gap in the seventh to tie the score 5-5.
In his eight previous at-bats in the series, Neto had put the ball in the air only once, a sacrifice fly in the 6-3 loss on Friday.
Neto said he and a group of coaches studied past film from when he was regularly lifting the ball and noticed he wasn’t letting the ball get deep enough in the strike zone.
“Just hitting the ball way too out front,” he said. “There’s a certain amount of distance you can cover before you’re way too out front and you roll over, so I feel like that’s what I was getting to. … (Letting the ball get deeper) gets me a little more whip and just helps me get the ball in the air.”
Neto’s home run on Sunday was the 47th of his career, tying Erick Aybar for third-most in team history, one behind Dick Schofield.
Jim Fregosi leads the way with 111.
Neto is also four home runs from reaching 20 on the season. If Trout (19) and Logan O’Hoppe (18) also hit that mark, it would give the Angels five players with at least 20 home runs for the first time since 2000.
JANSEN RECOGNIZED
Angels closer Kenley Jansen was selected the AL Reliever of the Month on Monday after going 2-0 in July with five saves, a 0.00 ERA and 13 strikeouts.
It’s the third time he’s won the award since it began in 2017 and his first in the AL.
Jansen has also gone 18 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run, the longest stretch of his career. His previous record was 17 from June 18 to August 30, 2011, and September 5, 2014, to June 9, 2015, both with the Dodgers.
UP NEXT
Rays (RHP Ryan Pepiot, 6-9, 3.80 ERA) at Angels (RHP Jose Soriano, 7-8, 3.65 ERA), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., FDSN West, 830 AM