Taylor Ward's walk-off homer vs. White Sox caps Angels' comeback from 5-run deficit

Jeff Fletcher, The Orange County Register on Aug 3, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels needed that one.

After losing their previous three games and facing the specter of a sweep at the hands of the team with the worst record in the American League, the Angels rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-5, on Sunday afternoon.

Taylor Ward hit a walk-off three-run homer to end it, his career-high 26th homer of the season.

With one out in the ninth, Nolan Schanuel yanked a double into right field. Mike Trout was then walked intentionally, setting the stage for Ward.

The Angels (54-58) had lost the first two games of the series, just after general manager Perry Minasian said he chose not to make forward-looking trades so he could keep this roster intact to experience “meaningful” games in August and September.

Those words hung over the Angels when they were down 5-0 in the sixth inning, thanks to a rough start from right-hander Jack Kochanowicz.

As they came to bat in the sixth, they had only two hits and were showing no signs of doing what it took to avoid a sweep.

Zach Neto led off the inning with a homer, accompanied by a bat flip that seemed to have some frustration behind it.

Schanuel followed with a walk, and then Trout doubled. Ward dropped a single into left to drive in one run. Trout then scored on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 5-3.

An inning later, Christian Moore and pinch-hitter Yoán Moncada led off with consecutive singles, and then Neto completed the comeback with a game-tying two-run double.

That took Kochanowicz off the hook for a loss on a day he gave up four runs in the first three, three on a Colson Montgomery homer.

After the first inning, Kochanowicz managed to get through the next five with only one more run scoring, which helped the bullpen and provided some hope for him going forward.

Kochanowicz now has a 5.85 ERA in 21 starts this season. He was struggling enough that he was sent to Triple-A a month ago, only to return to the big leagues after one minor league start.

Kochanowicz did not allow an earned run in 4 2/3 innings in his previous start. This one was a step back. He gave up nine hits and he walked two, with just two strikeouts.