Trade candidates Ward, Rengifo, Jansen take center stage in Halos' win

ANAHEIM -- With three days until Thursday’s Trade Deadline, the Angels are doing their best to stay in contention and avoid being sellers.

They helped their case with trade candidates Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo hitting key homers and closer Kenley Jansen picking up a four-out save to lead the Angels to a 6-4 win over the Rangers in the series opener on Monday night at Angel Stadium. With the victory, the Angels (52-55) are 4 1/2 games back of the Red Sox for the third and final AL Wild Card spot.

Ward said the Angels are trying to stay focused with the deadline looming, and said what the front office decides is ultimately out of their control. But they’d like to make it more difficult by playing good baseball the next few days.

“I’m speaking for myself but just trying not to think about it,” Ward said. “Just going out there and playing baseball pitch to pitch.”

Ward crushed a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth off veteran ace Jacob deGrom for his 25th blast of the year, which tied his career high set last season. And Rengifo added a two-run shot off reliever Jacob Webb for his fifth homer of the year and his first since June 21. Both Ward, who remains under contract through next season, and Rengifo, an impending free agent, have seen their names swirl around trade rumors in recent weeks.

But Ward said if it were up to him, he’d remain with the only organization he’s known, as he was a first-round pick by the Angels in 2015.

“I have no idea [if I’ll be traded],” Ward said. “All I know is, I want to stay here. I want to win with these boys. And that’s about it.”

On paper, it looked like a mismatch for the Angels facing deGrom, while right-hander Jack Kochanowicz was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to rejoin the rotation after making just one start in the Minors. Kochanowicz had been optioned on July 11 after posting an MLB-worst 6.03 ERA in 19 starts, while deGrom came in with a 2.28 ERA in 20 outings.

But the Angels jumped out to an early lead in the third on a two-run shot from Kevin Newman -- who entered with just one homer on the year -- and ultimately scored five runs against deGrom in 5 1/3 innings after they also scored three runs off him in five innings on July 7.

“It's great,” said interim manager Ray Montomgery. “He's tough, he's one of the best in the game and has been for a long time. He made a couple of mistakes and he wasn't happy about it. And we capitalized on a couple of home runs, which was nice.”

Kochanowicz also took a no-hitter into the fifth before he gave up a two-out triple to Josh Smith. Kochanowicz then loaded the bases and appeared to get out of the jam by getting Adolis García to hit a lazy fly ball to right fielder Gustavo Campero. Campero, though, dropped it to allow two runs to score to tie the game.

Campero, however, helped make up for his error, as he singled the next inning and scored on an RBI double from Zach Neto. The Rangers tied it up again on a solo homer in the sixth from Josh Jung, but Ward and Rengifo came through in the sixth and the bullpen did the rest, including Jansen improving to 19-for-20 in save chances this year.

Jansen, who is set to be a free agent this upcoming offseason after joining the club on a one-year deal worth $10 million, has continued to improve his stock with another strong performance. The 16-year veteran has turned in 16 straight scoreless outings dating back to June 16.

He’s stated he wants to remain with the Angels and help lead them to the postseason for the first time since 2014, but it’s looking more and more likely he could be moved before the deadline. He also proved he can go more than one inning, getting his second multi-inning save of the year and his first since May 17.

“We've talked with him before about it and our bullpen was stretched pretty good,” Montgomery said. “Obviously, we just didn't want to let it get any further. So that was a good time to do it.”