It was a pretty uphill battle for the Angels.
Minnesota struck first in the second inning when Royce Lewis launched a two run homer to center, putting the visitors ahead early. The Angels answered right back in the bottom half with a three run frame highlighted by Willie Calhoun’s RBI double and a two run shot from Samad that briefly gave them the lead.
But the Twins’ bats didn’t stay quiet for long. They scratched across a run in the third then pounced again in the fifth when Lewis went deep for the second time, this one a two-run blast to left. In 2025, Lewis is shining in Hard Hit percentage of 41.1%, well above league average. Los Angeles’ offense, meanwhile, stalled out after its early burst as Minnesota’s pitching settled in and the Angels’ bats fell silent through the middle innings.
The dagger came in the sixth: after a costly fielding error extended the frame James Outman crushed a three run homer to right center, stretching the Twins’ lead to four. As the game moved into the late innings the Angels needed a spark to avoid watching another one slip away in this homestand.
The Twins capitalized once again on Angels’ defensive miscues in the eighth. A pair of errors, one from Rengifo and another from Moncada, opened the door for Minnesota to tack on two more runs. Keaschall scored on the misplay. Royce Lewis reached safely. Willi Castro came around on a sacrifice fly by Trevor Larnach. Martin later doubled, keeping the pressure on.
Later in the 9th it was salt in the wound. Wallner doubled to the right leading to Outman and Gasper scoring. Keaschall signled, Wallner scored.
And unfortunately we didn’t have time to spark up any run. We fell short to the Twins, 12-3.
