Los Angeles Angels defeat Minnesota Twins 6-5 - MLB Update
The American League’s Los Angeles Angels defeated the league rivals Minnesota Twins 6-5 after a close confrontation at Target Field on Sunday, May 29 to take the three-game series 2-1.
The Angels led off the game in the third inning when Erick Aybar blistered an RBI double off the Twins’ starter, Carl Pavano. Then Bobby Abreu added a third run after they had gone under 1-0 lead in the first inning when their starter Dan Haren gave an RBI
single to Jason Kubel, the Twins’ designated hitter.
In the bottom of the inning, the Twins’ Justin Morneau scored an RBI single to trim the lead to 2-3. After a scoreless fourth inning, Erick again came into action and scored another RBI single to widen the lead to 4-2.
Haren, who has given two runs, then kept the Twins scoreless from the fourth until the seventh when Alexi Casilla grounded out to short-stop, scoring Trevor Plouffe for the third run. Haren did not consume any other run and ended his six innings allowing
ten hits and one walk to earn his fifth win of the season.
"Baseball's a funny game," Haren said. "Jered threw the ball unbelievable last night, nine scoreless innings and nothing to show for it. Then I come up, give up 10 hits in six innings, and get the win. Just shows you how wins and losses are not really the
best way to judge a pitcher."
The score was 4-3, when Abreu scored an RBI single to make it 5-3 in the top of the eighth inning. In the top of the ninth when Pavano, after allowing five runs on ten hits over eight innings, handed the ball to closer Jim Hoey, Mark Trumbo launched a huge
425-feet long one-run homer to take the score to 6-3 cementing the Angels’ 28th win of the season.
By this time, the Angels’ relievers Scott Downs and Fernando Rodney each threw one inning and did not yield any run in the crucial stages. This set the Angels into an excellent position to win the game.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Twins’ Denard Span and Justin Morneau each scored an RBI single off the Angels’ closer Jordan Walden in an attempt to bring their team back into the game. However, it was not enough to change the result that Angels had written
from the start.
Despite allowing two runs on two hits and walking two batters over one inning, Walden received his twelfth save of the season. On the other hand, Hoey gave one and closer Chuck James did not yield any run but both remained winless.
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