Barría shakes poor start
The slugger rips his MLB-leading 35th homer and the pitcher battles seven innings.
The right-hander gives up two early home runs but the Angels rally to beat the Twins 6-2 to close their trip.
ANGELS 6 MINNESOTA 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Shohei Ohtani entered Sunday still trying to shake off his slow start to the second half of the season. Through the game’s first inning, Jaime Barría also looked shaky after giving up backto-back home runs.
But by the end of the Angels’ 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, a victory that clinched a series victory and got the team back to .500 at 49-49, both players seemed to be back on track.
Barría matched a careerlong start by pitching seven innings, not surrendering another run the rest of the game while striking out four.
Ohtani, meanwhile, continued to show encouraging signs at the plate, collecting two hits for a second straight game including a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning — his MLB-leading 35th of the year.
There were other contributors too: Max Stassi had three RBIs on three hits, coming up a double shy of the cycle. Brandon Marsh scored two runs and drove in one. Jack Mayfield also had an RBI double and made a couple more impressive plays defensively at third base.
And the Angels’ bullpen held up, with Steve Cishek protecting a one-run lead in the eighth before the lineup piled on three insurance runs in the ninth.
Here are three observations from Sunday.
Big days for Ohtani and Stassi
After getting a day off on Friday following a fourfor-24 stretch coming out of the All-Star break, Ohtani looked like his old self at the plate again this weekend.
On Saturday, he had two doubles. On Sunday, he had an infield single in the first inning, then delivered the go-ahead blast in the sixth, a scorched line drive that landed in a pavilion beyond the right-field seats and gave the Angels their first lead of the day.
According to MLB’s Statcast system, the ball left his bat at 112.6 mph and traveled a projected 414 feet, not only extending Ohtani’s major league lead in homers — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is next-closest with 32 — but also moving him into a tie for third in RBIs with 75.
“He just always responds,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said of Ohtani’s performance this weekend. “He likes the spotlight, he likes the big moment.”
When Ohtani was intentionally walked in his last atbat, the Twins putting him aboard with a base open and two outs in the eighth, some of the home fans even booed.
“I was booing too,” Maddon joked. “But it was the right move.”
Ohtani will now take the mound on Monday night against the Colorado Rockies. Maddon said he expects the two-way star will likely also hit in the game.
Stassi also had one of his best games at the plate Sunday, coming up one hit shy of the cycle for the second time this season.
This time, Stassi began his day with a triple — the first of his career — and homered in his second atbat before chipping in again with an RBI single in the eighth.
Barría rebounds after bad start
In his first MLB start since last September, Barría’s day couldn’t have begun any worse.
Max Kepler homered to lead off the first inning, blasting a solo shot to right a pitch after he had just hooked another long drive foul. In the next at-bat, Brent Rooker launched a hanging first-pitch slider to the third deck in left.
“We’ve had that happen,” Maddon said. “But our young starters are really understanding, one bad moment doesn’t ruin your entire day.”
Indeed, Barría was almost flawless the rest of the game. He retired his next six batters, stranded a baserunner in each inning between the third and sixth, then finished off the seventh inning in order.
A big key: Barría’s fastball velocity. His fourseamer, which he threw more than half the time in a 95-pitch outing, averaged 94.1 mph — almost two mph faster than any of his previous 44 MLB starts.
“The triple A [coaching staff] has been helping me out a lot,” Barría said through an interpreter. “I felt good out there.”
Trout will be examined today
Injured Angels center fielder Mike Trout will have a follow-up visit with the team’s doctor on Monday to determine where he’s at in his recovery from a right calf strain that has kept him out since mid-May.
Maddon said the team is hoping to have a better idea of Trout’s timeline after that. Maddon described the visit as a “routine follow-up” but did acknowledge that Trout has still felt something in his calf during some rehab drills.
“It’s something that he feels, but it’s not awful,” Maddon said. “We’re just waiting to hear from the doc.”