Christian Moore delivered the kind of finish that leaves a stadium buzzing and a bullpen deflated. With two outs and the bases loaded in the 11th, Moore chopped an infield single off Taylor Rogers’ leg, and the ball bounced long enough for Zach Neto to score the winning run in the Los Angeles Angels’ 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night in Anaheim, Calif.
The Angels had already clawed all the way back before that final swing. Vaughn Grissom tied the game at 5 with a solo homer in the ninth off A.J. Minter, setting up extra innings and keeping Los Angeles alive.
Minnesota had a chance to change the night in the 10th. After Royce Lewis lifted a shallow fly ball to right, Ben Ross tagged from third, but Josh Lowe came up firing. His one-bounce throw reached catcher Moisés Ballesteros in time for a sweeping tag at the plate, cutting down Ross and ending the Twins’ threat.
Los Angeles also trimmed the gap in the eighth, when pinch-hitter Adam Frazier lined a double down the right-field line against Yoendrys Gomez to bring in two runs and make it 5-4.
The Twins had taken their own swings at the game earlier. Jose Siri put the Angels ahead with a two-run homer in the fourth, and Ryan Kreidler answered for Minnesota with a solo shot in the fifth.
Tayler Saucedo earned the win for Los Angeles with an inning of scoreless relief. Rogers took the loss after 1 2/3 innings.
Joe Ryan worked five innings for Minnesota, allowing two runs and seven hits while striking out five. Reid Detmers also lasted five innings for the Angels, giving up four runs and six hits while striking out five. Detmers now has 204 strikeouts this season, the most by an Angels pitcher since Shohei Ohtani had 219 in 2022.
Minnesota is still technically in the American League wild-card race, but the math is brutal. The Twins sit at least 6 1/2 games behind five teams for the final spot with seven games left.
In Other News...
Twins Outfield Picture Just Got More Complicated At The Worst Time
With the Twins in the middle of a four-game set against the Angels, the outfield picture shifted again after Trevor Larnach was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist sprain. Minnesota responded by recalling Alan Roden from Triple-A St. Paul, a reminder of how quickly the margins can change this time of year, especially for a club trying to keep its lineup stable while the series plays out.
The timing is notable because Walker Jenkins has started to look much more like himself at the plate, piling up six hits and two home runs in the first two games against Los Angeles. For a Twins team already juggling results in the series, Jenkins surge offers a bright spot, but Larnachs absence only adds another layer of uncertainty to an outfield that has suddenly become a lot harder to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
Byron Buxton's Long Injury Saga Just Got Worse For The Twins
Byron Buxtons season-long fight through hip pain has taken another turn, with the Twins center fielder undergoing successful arthroscopic surgery on his right hip. The procedure, performed by Dr. Christopher Larson, included a labral repair with decompression and cam resection, a sign of just how long this issue has been hanging over Buxton and the club after repeated trips to the injured list this year.
The timing only adds to the frustration in Minnesota, where the lineup is already dealing with another absence. Trevor Larnach landed on the injured list with a left wrist sprain, and Alan Roden was recalled from Triple-A to take his roster spot, leaving the Twins to patch together the outfield while Buxton begins the next phase of recovery. [Read more 🡒]
Trevor Larnach News Puts New Attention On A Twins Roster Move
The Twins roster shuffle this week put a new spotlight on the outfield mix, with Trevor Larnach landing on the Injured List and Alan Roden getting the call-up in his place. It was the kind of transaction that can ripple quickly through a club looking to keep its depth intact, especially when the organization is also watching how its upper-level players are performing day to day.
Across the system, the St. Paul Saints helped keep that conversation moving with a 4-3 win over Columbus, getting key contributions from Kalai Rosario and Jake Rucker. With player performances continuing to sort themselves out and another game on the schedule, Minnesota has a little more clarity in one area and a fresh question in another about how it will manage the outfield moving forward. [Read more 🡒]