Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout home run as Angels sweep Red Sox

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout homered in the same game for the 26th time since becoming teammates, leading the Los Angeles Angels to their fourth straight win and a sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 7-3 win Wednesday night.

“It’s pretty cool when you go deep twice,” Trout said. “Good things are happening. … (The Red Sox) beat us three out of four times when we played them there (in Boston), so it’s good to have a little sweep.”

Rookie Zach Neto hit a three-run homer in the Angels’ second four-run run and added a brace on his three-running opener for Los Angeles, which has won six of seven games overall.

The MVP duo of the Angels won in the first innings. Ohtani connected in the third for his team-leading 12th home run, taking James Paxton to the opposite court with his fourth shot in 10 days. The pitch was 3.74 feet above the ground, making it the second highest pitch Ohtani had ever managed.

“It’s a great power out there,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said before referring to the cool, overcast patterns known as May Gray or June Gloom at this time of year. in southern California. “The ball wasn’t carrying very well tonight, (so) going the other way with the air like it is right now (that’s impressive).”

Trout followed in the fourth with a two-run shot on Nick Pivetta, tying Ohtani’s season total with his fourth homer in seven days. The three-time AL MVP also passed Joe DiMaggio with his 362nd career home run.

“You can just feel the excitement in the dugout and how excited the fans are” when Ohtani and Trout go deep, Angels starter Tyler Anderson said.

The Angels are now 4-0 this season when Ohtani and Trout homer in the same game, which has happened 26 times since Ohtani joined the Angels in 2018. It’s the third most number of teammates during this period, behind only Cody Bellinger and Max. Muncy (33) and Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton (28), according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Anderson had five hits and a run in six innings for his first win in eight starts. The veteran southpaw has had seven straight no-decisions since making his Los Angeles debut on April 2, but he’s improved his ERA to 3.14 in his last five starts after a rocky start to his career with the Angels.

Los Angeles took a 4-0 lead in the second inning on Gio Urshela’s RBI flyout followed by Neto’s third career home run. The 22-year-old rookie has firmly gripped the starting position at shortstop since making his major league debut in Boston last month, providing stellar defense and an ever-improving offense.

“You can see how comfortable I feel,” Neto said. “I’m about to go out there and have fun and be myself.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.