Coming off a tough series against the Cubs, the Los Angeles Angels shook off the rust, earning a 4-0 shutout victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday evening at Globe Life Field. The Halos improved to 62-69, snapping a three-game skid in the process.

One pitch. One swing. That’s all it took for Zach Neto to set the tone in the series opener, launching a leadoff solo home run off of ace Jacob deGrom to get the scoring started. It was the ninth leadoff shot of the season for Neto, his 22nd overall, extending his single-season leadoff home run record.

The home run also marked the 11th leadoff homer overall for the club this season, creating a new single-season record. Previously, the record was held by the 1986 Angels, who hit 10.

On the mound, José Soriano made sure to follow the tone set by Neto, earning his ninth victory of the year in a much-needed outing. After allowing five and seven runs in two of his last three starts respectively, the right-hander kept Texas completely off the board through 5 2/3 innings.

Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

He conceded only four hits, facing the minimum through the opening four innings. His six strikeouts helped prevent the Rangers from getting a baserunner to second base until the sixth, where Soriano was ultimately pulled after allowing a two-out walk and single.

Reid Detmers backed him up nicely, getting out of the inning by striking out Corey Seager. Detmers was one of four Angels’ relievers to see the mound (along with Luis Garcia, Brock Burke and Kenley Jansen), as the unit combined to deal 3 1/3 innings of one-hit baseball. 

Travis d’Arnaud had a promising day at the plate, collecting a pair of RBI hits, one of which coming against his former longtime battery mate with the New York Mets in deGrom. The catcher delivered a two-out RBI single in the fourth, scoring Taylor Ward to extend the Angel lead to 2-0.

In the sixth, he lined a double down the right field line to score Ward all the way from first, making it 3-0. Logan O’Hoppe, hitting from the DH spot on Monday, had the insurance in the ninth with his 19th home run.

With an impressive wire-to-wire performance in the books, Los Angeles will look to clinch their first series victory since August 11-13 in the second game of three on Saturday. Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (6-8, 3.42 ERA) will start against Rangers’ left-hander Patrick Corbin (6-9, 4.61 ERA).

First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. PT.