Exactly 1 year after CWS triumph, Angels' Christian Moore puts majors on notice with 2 big homers

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Christian Moore made it to the big leagues less than 11 months after the Los Angeles Angels drafted him.

A mere 10 days after he got that call, Moore felt he truly arrived Tuesday night when he hit two clutch homers to beat the Red Sox.

Moore hit a tying solo homer in the eighth inning and a two-run shot in the 10th inning of the Angels' 3-2 victory over Boston. The walk-off homer capped a remarkable moment for the energetic No. 8 overall pick who could be a fixture in the Halos' lineup for years to come.

Moore's new teammates celebrated his second blast by tearing the jersey off his back at home plate before dousing the Brooklyn native with two ice-cold coolers of sports drinks during his postgame interview.

“It means the world to me to be here in this situation,” said Moore, the Angels' top prospect. “It’s a full, complete circle, obviously. The Angels saw something in me at last year’s draft, and they continue to see something in me, and I’m going to continue to go out there and try to win games.”

One year to the day after Moore's Tennessee Volunteers won the College World Series, the second baseman had the biggest game of his promising professional career. The Angels are already sold on Moore's ability to thrive in the majors.

“He’s going to be here for long time,” Angels shortstop Zach Neto said. “For him to be able to do that in the eighth inning with that swing, and have the confidence to be able to do it again in the 10th, just shows who he is. We drafted him for a reason, and he’s here for a reason.”

Moore's big game didn't start out superbly, with fellow ex-Vol Garrett Crochet striking him out twice. But Moore learned from the challenges of facing one of the majors’ best pitchers, and he came through with a pair of clutch homers off the Boston bullpen.

“Those were two really special (at-bats),” Angels acting manager Ray Montgomery said. “To do that here is really fun for him. ... He has that youthful sort of exuberance that’s refreshing, because there’s just so much energy.”

Moore first connected on a high fastball from Greg Weissert in the eighth, wiping out Boston's 1-0 lead that Crochet nursed through seven innings.

After Marcelo Mayer led off the 10th with an RBI single for Boston, Moore ended it in the bottom half with a one-out homer off Justin Wilson.

The drive hit the elevated wall in right field at Angel Stadium just barely above the yellow line signifying a homer, and Moore thought he only had a triple until he was waved home.

“I didn’t believe it,” Moore said with a grin. “I was kind of scared to get off the base, but the umpire made it pretty serious that it was a home run, so I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to take your word for it and go celebrate with my boys. That’s cool with me.’”

The Angels have aggressively promoted their top prospects under general manager Perry Minasian, calling up Neto and first baseman Nolan Schanuel well before the industry norms. While Neto rounded into an elite player quickly, Schanuel needed a couple of years before he began contributing at an above-average level this season.

Los Angeles is hoping Moore can quickly master the challenges of the majors after just 305 at-bats in the minors. Moore figures this big game will provide a boost to his confidence and competitiveness.

“It was definitely huge,” Moore said. “If you look at (my offensive) numbers before today, it wasn’t too good. I think that’s just part of it, being young and trying to figure it out in this league. I think there’s just a lot of good arms. Facing Garrett Crochet, he’s definitely tough. I think it's (the same) for a lot of guys that are young. We’re finding our way for sure, and we’re going to keep doing it.”

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Los Angeles Angels' Nolan Schanuel (18) and Angels' catcher Logan O'Hoppe dump coolers of liquid on Angels' Christian Moore (4) as they celebrate his walk-off two-run home run in the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)

Los Angeles Angels second baseman Christian Moore flips his bat after hitting a walk-off two-run home run in the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)

Los Angeles Angels' Christian Moore, shirtless, is congratulated by Angels' Jo Adell, left, and Angels' Taylor Ward after hitting a walk-off two-run home run in the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)

Los Angeles Angels' Christian Moore celebrates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run in the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)