The Twins played two games against the Angels Saturday to make up for Friday night’s rainout, but the outcome was disappointing as they lost both of them and slipped behind the Angels in the wild-card chase.
The Twins have lost five straight games and now trail both the Astros and Angels in the race for the second Wild Card.
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) September 20, 2015
Game 1: 4-3 loss in 12 innings
The first game, an afternoon affair that made up for Friday night’s postponement, went into extra innings when the score was tied 3-3 after nine, but Twins’ mistakes led to a 4-3 loss in 12 innings, the Associated Press reports.
The Angels’ Dan Robertson reached first base in the top of the 12th on a fielding error by Brian Dozier, then moved to second on a wild pitch by Blaine Boyer. He advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a line drive by Kole Calhoun that Eduardo Escobar had trouble handling, according to the Associated Press.
Miguel Sano hit his 17th homer in the bottom of the 7th inning – a two-run shot to the second deck in center field.
Closer Glen Perkins worked the game for the first time since Sept. 1, after being out with back spasms. He struck out the one batter he faced in the seventh inning.
Game 2: 5-2 loss
In the nightcap, the Twins were pretty much shut down by Angels pitcher Garrett Richards, who gave up just five hits, the Star Tribune reports. The Twins scored on a solo homer by Trevor Plouffe in the seventh, and an RBI groundout by Kennys Vargas in the bottom of the ninth.
Twins starter Mike Pelfrey, who hadn’t started a game since Sept. 9, pitched five scoreless innings, but then gave up three runs in the sixth inning and another in the seventh on a homer by Chris Iannetta, according to MLB.com.
Phil Hughes, typically a starter, pitched the last two innings out of the bullpen but gave up a solo home run to Mike Trout.
The Twins are now on a five-game losing streak, and the Angels are one game ahead of the Twins in the race for the second American League wild-card spot.
The Twins will wrap up their four-game series with the Angels on Sunday afternoon at Target Field at 1:10 p.m., with right-hander Tyler Duffey taking the mound.
