Byron Buxton and Jason Castro slugged home runs to help the Twins top the Angels 8-7 Wednesday afternoon at Target Field, but not before a nervous ninth inning.
The Twins led 8-4 before Trevor Hildenberger allowed two runs in the ninth inning – the sixth time in his last eight appearances that he’s allowed two runs – and Mike Morin loaded the bases and hit Mike Trout to trim Minnesota’s lead to 8-7.
Morin then got Shohei Ohtani to ground out with the bases loaded to end the game.
Minnesota dropped the opening game of the series on Monday and then won the next two to improve to 27-15 this season – good for a 4 1/2-game lead over Cleveland in the American League Central Division, and the second-best record in the AL.
Ehire Adrianza’s two-run double in the second inning got the scoring started, and the gates opened when the Twins scored four runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run homer by Byron Buxton, an RBI double off the bat of Eddie Rosario and a sacrifice fly by Willians Astudillo to take a 6-1 lead.
Jason Castro’s sixth homer of the season – a 425-foot shot to left-center field – put the Twins up 8-3 in the sixth.
Fun fact: Entering play Wednesday, Castro was averaging one home run every 9.8 at-bats, which ranked third in the American League, trailing only Gary Sanchez of the Yankees (8.4 at-bats) and fellow Twins catcher Mitch Garver (8.8 at-bats).
Jake Odorizzi allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings to win his sixth consecutive start, although this was the shortest of his last six outings. The right-hander hadn’t allowed a run in his previous three starts.
The Twins led 8-4 before Trevor Hildenberger allowed two runs in the ninth inning. Hildenberger has allowed two runs in six of his last eight appearances.
The Angels then loaded the bases against Mike Morin, but superstar Mike Trout
