Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto hit home runs as the Los Angeles Angels finished a three-game sweep of San Diego with a 3-2 win on Wednesday night, following Padres star Manny Machado’s departure due to a leg injury.
The Padres later announced Machado’s strained right hip flexor. He seemed to injure his upper right leg while running out a potential double play ball in the fourth inning. After being examined by a trainer, he walked cautiously back to the dugout.
Manager Mike Shildt described it as a low- to mild-grade strain and said Machado’s status is day-to-day going into Thursday’s series against Arizona.
Fernando Tatis Jr. had his seventh four-hit game and first since 2021 as the Padres lost four straight on the road for the first time this season.
“Tough series. I’m not going to kid you,” Shildt said. “Start of the trip, we get two wins and then can’t pick up another one. I mean, today, another unusual game. Two swings got us, but they were were two big swings.”
It was the Angels’ first three-game series sweep at home since last July against the Yankees. Before the series, they had lost 21 of 28 games at The Big A, their worst home start in team history.
José Soriano (3-5) had his fifth consecutive start pitching at least six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and six hits with one strikeout.
Matt Moore closed the ninth inning for his first save since 2022 with Texas. “The whole three games were outstanding,” manager Ron Washington said. “In the sixth and seventh inning, we made a few mistakes but they didn’t lose their composure and kept playing.”
San Diego’s Dylan Cease (5-5) also pitched six innings, giving up three runs and four hits and striking out six.
Schanuel broke an 0-for-18 slump when he hit a slider by Cease, sending it to the auxiliary scoreboard just above the right-center wall. It was the Angels’ third leadoff homer this season and Schanuel’s second.
Neto then made it 3-0 in the second with a two-run, two-out hit to left-center.
“Hopefully it gives the fans a lot of confidence that we could win at home,” Neto said. “To be able to come back from the road, where we got swept, and to turn the page and play the games we know how to play was big.”
