Ward’s walkoff homer in 11th caps comeback

ANAHEIM » For the second consecutive night, the Angels did not put enough runners on base to have a chance to beat the Minnesota Twins.

Until the ninth inning. Down to their final strike, the Angels tied the game on a two-run triple by Magneuris Sierra to send the game into extra innings.

Then in the 11th inning, a tworun home run by Taylor Ward against Emilio Pagan lifted the Angels to a stunning 5-3 win before an announced crowd of 43,027. It was the third time the Angels have won a game this season in their final plate appearance.

The Angels were trailing 3-0 in the eighth inning when Shohei Ohtani blasted a home run to center field against flamethrowing reliever Jhoan Duran. That represented the Angels’ first run in the series.

The Angels’ six-through-nine hitters were a combined 1 for 12 with no walks going into the ninth inning when number-6 hitter Jo Adell singled against the Twins’ recently-acquired closer, Jorge Lopez. With two outs, Lopez walked Max Stassi. That brought up Sierra, the Angels’ number-9 hitter.

Sierra stroked Lopez’s 1-and-2

ANGELS 5, TWINS 3 (11 INNINGS)

THE SCORE

from falling for a hit. Ohtani, anticipating the ball would fall for a hit, ran all the way to second base and was doubled off first to end the inning.

Ryan Tepera (2-2) pitched a scoreless 11th inning and was credited with the win.

Angels starter Reid Detmers essentially limited the Twins’ damage to one batter. Correa hit a solo home run in the first inning and hit a fly ball to right field a few feet shy of a grand slam in the fifth inning, settling for a sacrifice fly.

Detmers did not allow another run in five innings, striking out nine. He threw 29 of his 96 pitches in the fifth inning, but allowed only one run to score after Minnesota loaded the bases with nobody out.

The Twins collected an insurance run in the eighth inning against Aaron Loup, using two singles and a swinging safety squeeze to take a 3-0 lead.

Ohtani’s 26th home run of the season came on a 2-and-1 count. He took advantage of a hanging breaking ball over the plate from Duran, who did not throw Ohtani a fastball in the four-pitch at-bat. He is tied for fifth in the American League with 26 homers.

Pitching out of trouble was the Angels’ saving grace. The Twins went 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base.

Twins at Angels, today, 1:07 p.m., BSW