Angels show off power, pitching in win
ANAHEIM » It all clicked for the Angels on Friday night. Almost.
Starting pitcher Andrew Heaney kept the opposing lineup at bay for the better part of six innings. The boppers bopped. The slap hitters slapped. It didn’t matter that Mike Trout and Jose Iglesias allowed a lazy fly ball to drop in between them, gifting Miguel Sano and the Minnesota Twins with a single. Nearly everything else fell their way in a 10-3 win before 13,428 at Angel Stadium.
Justin Upton and Jared Walsh hit back-to-back home runs against Twins pitcher Caleb Thielbar in the seventh inning, turning a close game into a blowout. Upton’s home run was the eighth grand slam of his career. It came after a threeday layoff stemming from a stiff back.
Upton, Walsh, Jose Iglesias and David Fletcher each contributed two hits to the Angels’ 12-hit attack. Trout drove in the go-ahead runs with one swing in the sixth inning, erasing a onerun deficit.
Fletcher led off the sixth with a single against Twins pitcher Randy Dobnak (03), and Shohei Ohtani followed with one of his own. When Fletcher turned on the jets and went to third base, Ohtani scooted to second base as the throw from the outfield sailed to third.
That set up Trout for the big hit, a single that eluded three infielders drawn in on the left side of the infield. Up 4-3, the Angels never trailed again.
Trout has reached safely in all 13 games this season for the Angels, who matched the Mariners at 8-5 for first place in the American League West.
Heaney pitched well enough to win, leaving with a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning, but did not factor into the decision. He executed a game plan with precision, turning to his fastball early and often, then putting hitters away with his curveball and changeup. Heaney allowed two hits, walked three batters and struck out six in 5 1/3 innings.
Heaney faced the minimum number of batters through the first five innings. The double-play combo of third baseman Luis Rengifo, second baseman David Fletcher and first baseman Albert Pujols was his best friend. Three times, the Twins put a runner on first base against Heaney. Three times, the inning ended on a 5-4-3 double play.
The Angels’ offense finally broke through against Twins starter Lewis Thorpe in the fourth inning. Trout drew a twoout walk and went to third base on an Upton double. The next batter, Walsh, punched a single that split the middle infielders like bowling pins. Trout and Upton scored, giving the Angels a 2-0 lead.
The Twins rallied against
Heaney in the sixth. Jorge Polanco singled and went to second base when Upton dropped the ball transferring it out of his glove in left field. Max Kepler walked.
After a brief visit with interim pitching coach Matt Wise, Heaney struck out the Twins-number 9 hitter, Jake Cave. At 79 pitches, and with the top of the order batting a third time, Heaney’s day was done.
Right-hander Aaron Slegers could not hold the lead. Mitch Garver doubled, scoring both runners to tie the score 2-2.
Josh Donaldson knocked in Garver with a single. Slegers was able to finish the inning — a 5-4-3 double play did the trick again — but he was suddenly on the hook for a loss.
Within minutes, Slegers was back off the hook. The Angels scored two runs in the sixth inning and six more in the seventh to take a 10-3 lead. Slegers (10) was the winning pitcher for just the second time in his career.
The first? His second career game in July 2018, when Slegers was pitching for the Twins.