SALON

Friday, Apr 13, 2012 12:46 AM UTC

Angels let Twins power way back for 10-9 win

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Angels let Twins power way back for 10-9 winLos Angeles Angels relief pitcher Scott Downs, left, covering first, cannot handle the ball as Minnesota Twins' Denard Span, right, singles to drive in the tying run in the seventh inning of a baseball game on Thursday, April 12, 2012, in Minneapolis. The Twins won 10-9. Downs suffered a leg injury on the play and left the game. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)(Credit: AP)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels relievers had a rough afternoon.

Dan Haren didn’t set the best example.

Justin Morneau hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Twins rallied from six runs down to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 10-9 on Thursday.

With LaTroy Hawkins and Jason Isringhausen unavailable after working the night before, manager Mike Scioscia’s options in the bullpen were limited. After Haren threw 94 pitches in five innings, leaving with a 6-3 lead, Hisanori Takahashi, Kevin Jepsen, Scott Downs and Rich Thompson gave up 11 hits and seven runs over the last four innings.

“We’re going to need to get our starters maybe over that little hump and then try to get our roles in the bullpen a little more nailed down,” Scioscia said. “Our guys tried. We just couldn’t shut the door when we needed it.”

Haren has allowed 20 hits and eight runs over 10 1-3 innings in two starts this season.

“I’ve been able to strike guys out, minimize the walks. But it just seems like everything is falling in right now,” Haren said. “It’s just one of those times. Just got to keep working hard.”

Maicer Izturis hit a two-run single in a five-run second inning and had two of the Angels’ five steals. Mark Trumbo homered and scored a run in the fifth on Vernon Wells’ two-out ground-rule double when he walked and stole a base. But that wasn’t enough.

Denard Span had four hits, including an infield single that tied it at 6 in the seventh inning. On the play, he reached first at the same time as Downs, inadvertently stomping down on top of the reliever’s foot with his cleat. Downs’ right ankle rolled awkwardly, and he left the game what the team called a bruise. He was on crutches afterward, and he’ll have an MRI test on Friday. His X-rays showed no break.

“It’s pretty sore,” Downs said.

Which hurt worse? The inning or the injury?

“Both,” Downs said. “That’s baseball. That’s going to happen. It’s not fun to watch, that’s for sure. It’s just something we have to bounce back from as a bullpen and go back at it.”

Scioscia said he wasn’t worried — about Haren or his relievers.

“I think our bullpen’s deeper this year than it was last year,” the manager said. “But we have to get settled into some roles. We got a lot of confidence in what the arms can do. … It’s going to come once our starters hit stride, some of those things will start to work out in the bullpen.”

Wells singled, moved on up on Brian Duensing’s wild pitch and scored on Peter Bourjos’ base hit in the eighth. That put the Angels in front again — for a few minutes.

In the bottom half, Mauer singled off Thompson (0-1), and Morneau followed with his first home run of the season. He had left seven runners on before that. The Twins tacked on two more runs, but the drama didn’t stop there.

Jeff Gray (2-0) picked up the victory, and Matt Capps notched his second save despite giving the Angels two runs back.

Albert Pujols singled to start the ninth and reached third when Torii Hunter’s possible double-play ball skipped off second base for a fluke single. Trumbo cut the lead to two with an RBI single, Wells beat out another potential double-play ball and another run scored on a fielder’s choice to first.

Chris Iannetta’s slow roller to third ended the game with a runner on second.

Pujols is 5 for 23 with his new team with two RBIs and two doubles.

“I don’t think he’s pressing. I think he’s getting used to different environments to hit in, getting used to a different set of pitchers,” Scioscia said. “He’s been on a lot of pitches and just missing them. He’s going to be fine.”

NOTES: The Angels allowed 20-plus hits for the first time since May 10, 2010, at Boston. … The last time the Angels surrendered a 6-0 lead and lost was on May 14, 1994, when Seattle overcame a 7-0 deficit to win 10-7. … The Angels send Ervin Santana (0-1, 7.94 ERA) to the mound on Friday in New York to face Hiroki Kuroda (0-1, 6.35 ERA) of the Yankees.

More Dave Campbell.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Judge tells lesbian couple to separate or lose kids: "unmarried sexual relationships -- including straight ones – can be grounds for losing child custody"
210 points211 points | 53 comments
vote
Developers evict historic women’s shelter to build luxury hotel - The 104-yr-old Anna Louise Inn has ended its 2-year legal battle with a Fortune 500 company & will now move. Many view the victory of the insurance company over a community touchstone as a major blow to the city.
31 points32 points | 2 comments
vote
Anonymous rallies behind Kaitlyn Hunt
23 points24 points | 33 comments
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford food
13 points14 points | comment
vote
I don’t hate millennials anymore! <--- not my words, but good read on Gen X. IMO
12 points13 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations