Angels lose despite stars aligning
MINNEAPOLIS — Gary Sanchez drove in four runs, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Minnesota Twins ended a five-game losing streak with an 8-4 win against the Angels on Saturday night.
The Angels’ first three runs came in the third. Mike Trout hit an RBI double and Shohei Ohtani had a tworun single, but the Angels lost for the third time in four games.
Reid Detmers (6-6) gave up five runs — four earned — in four-plus innings for the Angels, who committed three errors.
“There has been a lot of good and a lot of bad,” Detmers said of his season, which includes a no-hitter. “There are a lot of good things I can take from but there’s also some stuff I can learn from. I’m probably going to take the bad stuff with me into the offseason.”
Jose Miranda and Gio Urshela each had three hits for the Twins, who won for only the second time in 10 games. Minnesota was eliminated from contention in the AL Central on Friday night.
Sanchez hit his 15th homer of the year, and just his second in his last 23 games, on a 3-0 count against reliever Mike Mayers.
“We went out there and scored a bunch of runs, we had a lot of good at-bats,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think the approach was good. We found ways to get on top of some fastballs in a good way today.”
Griffin Jax (7-3) earned the win with a scoreless inning in relief of Twins starter Joe Ryan.
Minnesota jumped on Detmers early. Miranda and Luis Arraez singled before Urshela hit a two-run double.
“Every one of these is a learning experience for somebody who is really in his first year from wire to wire,” Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said of Detmers. “He’s done some really good things and these experiences are only going to benefit him next year.”
Not this time
Saturday marked the first time this season Ohtani and Trout each recorded multiple RBIs in a game and the Angels lost.
Trainer’s room
Angels: Infielder David Fletcher (bruised right hand) is taking swings. He’s been out since Sept. 17 after he was hit on the hand a second time in recent weeks.
Twins: A day after sidelining All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton for the season and announcing he’ll have knee surgery, Baldelli shed a bit more light on the knee trouble, saying Buxton was dealing with the issue since early April. “He was in a state pretty early in the season where reasonable arguments or just reasonable people would say he’s not able to play,” Baldelli said. “And he refused to hear any of that.”
Up next
Former Angels starter Dylan Bundy (8-7, 4.78 ERA) will start for Minnesota in the series finale Sunday afternoon. The Angels go with left-hander Jose Suarez (6-8, 4.11).