Twins overtake Angels 5-4 with rally in 8th inning

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nick Gordon scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for Minnesota on a throwing error by catcher Kurt Suzuki as the Twins rallied past the Los Angeles Angels 5-4 on Friday night.

Ryan Jeffers hit the game-tying RBI single off Angels closer Raisel Iglesias (6-4), who was charged with his fourth blown save in 24 attempts after being summoned with a runner on first for what would’ve been a six-out save.

Jeffers, who went 3 for 4, sent a grounder into left field. The throw home by Juan Lagares to try to get Miguel Sanó was way off the plate, and Suzuki misfired to third to try to get Gordon, who hustled in for the lead to punctuate the unraveling for the Angels.

Starter Alex Cobb had a 4-0 lead after two innings and a 4-2 edge in the sixth as he warmed up, but was pulled before it started because of a blister on his right index finger. Gordon brought the Twins within one with an RBI single in that inning against Steve Cishek.

Taylor Rogers notched his ninth save with a scoreless ninth for the Twins, after a scoreless eighth by Juan Minaya (1-0).

Jack Mayfield homered for the second straight game for the Angels and made a diving stop at third base to start a key double play in the fifth, and Suzuki hit a two-run homer against one of his four former teams. The Twins were the only team he made an All-Star game with in 2014. He followed an RBI single by José Iglesias in a three-run first inning against Twins starter J.A. Happ (5-6), who finished six innings.

NO-TANI

Happ has been plenty vulnerable after his strong first month with the Twins, but the 38-year-old has been relatively tough on left-handers this season. They had only three extra-base hits allowed over 67 plate appearances entering the night.

That was all the math Angels manager Joe Maddon needed to justify resting designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and first baseman Jared Walsh, his two healthy All-Stars.

“They’re not breaking Cal’s record,” Maddon quipped before the game, in reference to Cal Ripken Jr.’s all-time mark for consecutive games played.

Ohtani, the major league home run leader, went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Thursday and is 4 for 24 with one homer and 14 strikeouts out of the All-Star break. He has appeared as a hitter in 90 of the team’s 96 games.

HEY, ROOK

OF Brent Rooker, who’s tied for the Triple-A lead with 19 home runs, was recalled by the Twins from St. Paul to replace Nelson Cruz after the trade to Tampa Bay. Rooker took Cruz’s usual DH spot.

“The lineup’s going to look a little different every day, so he could find himself out there against lefties and against righties as well,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: CF Mike Trout (strained right calf), the three-time AL MVP who has not played since May 17, has not yet progressed to the point of clearance for a rehab assignment. “You don’t want to hurry something like this. You don’t want to push it to the point where he ends up reinjuring it and it becomes chronic,” Maddon said.

Twins: OF/1B Alex Kirilloff had surgery to repair his torn right wrist ligament, starting a recovery timetable of roughly two months. He likely won’t return to major league action this year.

“We do want him to have a full, healthy offseason, and that’s the goal so he can go into spring training at full speed,” Baldelli said.

UP NEXT

Angels: LHP Patrick Sandoval (2-4, 3.86 ERA) takes the mound Saturday night. Sandoval is winless in his last four starts, after allowing a career-high six runs in his last turn against Seattle.

Twins: RHP José Berríos (7-4, 3.69 ERA) pitches in the third game of the four-game series. Berríos has a 6.14 ERA in four career starts against the Angels.

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