Minnesota led after one. It did not lead again. The Los Angeles Angels scored four runs across the fourth and fifth innings and held on for a 4-3 victory over the Twins on Friday at Target Field, handing Minnesota its second straight loss.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| MIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
Vaughn Grissom was the central figure for Los Angeles, going 2-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBI. His solo shot to left in the fourth — 369 feet — tied the game at 1-1, and his sacrifice fly in the fifth brought home Tyler Heineman to push the lead to 4-1. Grissom is hitting .256 on the season with 5 home runs and 36 RBI.
The Fourth Inning Turned It
Minnesota had taken a 1-0 lead in the first when Kody Clemens hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Trevor Larnach. The Angels erased it in the fourth. After Grissom's homer tied the game, Jorge Soler scored on a balk to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead — the go-ahead run that the Angels never surrendered. In the fifth, Nolan Schanuel singled to right to score Wade Meckler, and Grissom's sacrifice fly made it 4-1.
The Twins pushed back in the sixth. Brooks Lee doubled to left to score Josh Bell, and Austin Martin grounded out to bring home Royce Lewis, cutting the deficit to 4-3. But that was as close as Minnesota would get. Grayson Rodriguez earned the win, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, improving to 3-2 with a 7.55 ERA. Kirby Yates worked a clean ninth for his third save of the season. Zebby Matthews took the loss, falling to 4-6 after allowing 4 runs on 9 hits over 6 innings.
Kirby Yates is 4 appearances away from 500 games played in his career. The Angels improved to 38-57. Minnesota fell to 46-49, dropping its second consecutive game.