MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins have lost their touch at Target Field.
A pair of mistakes in the 12th inning let the Los Angeles Angels score the go-ahead run Saturday in a 4-3 win over the Twins in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
Minnesota lost its fourth in a row, all at home, and fell into a tie with the Angels in the AL wild-card race. They are 1 1/2 games behind Houston for the second spot.
"All games seem to take on different looks and flavors," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "They didn't score any of their runs on base hits today. ... Tough playing in the shadows there and we couldn't make a catch."
Dan Robertson led off the Angels 12th by reaching on second baseman Brian Dozier's error.
"Bad play by me," Dozier said, later adding: "We always think we should make every play. We're hard on ourselves, so that's good."
Robertson eventually got to third, and he scored when shortstop Eduardo Escobar knocked down Kole Calhoun's liner and threw late to the plate. Escobar was playing in and had trouble making the catch with shadows lingering over the infield because of the 12:10 p.m. start.
"Kole hit a rocket," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "They cracked the door open, but we still had to finish it off and I thought we executed well."
The early game was part of a doubleheader as a makeup to Friday night's rainout.
Blaine Boyer (3-5) allowed an unearned run in 1 1/3 innings in the loss.
Los Angeles left four runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. But the Angels scored runs on sacrifice fly by Mike Trout and two grounders.
Mike Morin (3-1) struck out the only two batters he faced in the 11th. Huston Street earned his 37th save.
Miguel Sano's 17th homer tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when the big rookie slugger hit a two-run shot to the second deck in center field above the bullpens. Sano came to bat in the bottom of the eighth with a runner on second, but was intentionally walked for the first time in his career. Plouffe struck out to end the inning.
Starters Kyle Gibson and Andrew Heaney cruised through the first five innings.
Los Angeles' Taylor Featherston had the first hit of the game in the top of the third off Gibson, who allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings.
Heaney held Minnesota without a hit through five but ran into trouble in the sixth when Eddie Rosario led off with his major league-leading 14th triple. Heaney gave up two earned runs and left after walking Joe Mauer to lead off the seventh. Trevor Gott entered and allowed Sano's home run.
SECOND GAME
Minnesota's Mike Pelfrey (6-9, 4.09 ERA) will face Garrett Richards (13-11, 3.81 ERA) in the nightcap.
"I'm sure he's feeling it a little bit," Molitor said when asked if Pelfrey has pressure on him. "I'm sure everyone's feeling it a little bit. We've seen four games come and go without a victory. You start to understand those things."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: All-Star closer Glen Perkins appeared in a game for the first time since Sept. 1, making his return from back spasms. He struck out the only batter he faced, Calhoun, with two runners on in the seventh. ... RHP Trevor May also made his return to the lineup after missing two games with a sore right hip. He pitched a scoreless eighth.
UP NEXT
The finale of the four-game series on Sunday will have Minnesota rookie RHP Tyler Duffey (3-1, 3.72) facing RHP Matt Shoemaker (7-9, 4.31) for the Angels. Duffey has allowed just four earned runs in 17 innings at home this season and beat Detroit in his last outing by allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings. Shoemaker will make his first start since Sept. 1 after dealing with right forearm tightness.
A pair of mistakes in the 12th inning let the Los Angeles Angels score the go-ahead run Saturday in a 4-3 win over the Twins in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
Minnesota lost its fourth in a row, all at home, and fell into a tie with the Angels in the AL wild-card race. They are 1 1/2 games behind Houston for the second spot.
"All games seem to take on different looks and flavors," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "They didn't score any of their runs on base hits today. ... Tough playing in the shadows there and we couldn't make a catch."
Dan Robertson led off the Angels 12th by reaching on second baseman Brian Dozier's error.
"Bad play by me," Dozier said, later adding: "We always think we should make every play. We're hard on ourselves, so that's good."
Robertson eventually got to third, and he scored when shortstop Eduardo Escobar knocked down Kole Calhoun's liner and threw late to the plate. Escobar was playing in and had trouble making the catch with shadows lingering over the infield because of the 12:10 p.m. start.
"Kole hit a rocket," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "They cracked the door open, but we still had to finish it off and I thought we executed well."
The early game was part of a doubleheader as a makeup to Friday night's rainout.
Blaine Boyer (3-5) allowed an unearned run in 1 1/3 innings in the loss.
Los Angeles left four runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. But the Angels scored runs on sacrifice fly by Mike Trout and two grounders.
Mike Morin (3-1) struck out the only two batters he faced in the 11th. Huston Street earned his 37th save.
Miguel Sano's 17th homer tied the game in the bottom of the seventh when the big rookie slugger hit a two-run shot to the second deck in center field above the bullpens. Sano came to bat in the bottom of the eighth with a runner on second, but was intentionally walked for the first time in his career. Plouffe struck out to end the inning.
Starters Kyle Gibson and Andrew Heaney cruised through the first five innings.
Los Angeles' Taylor Featherston had the first hit of the game in the top of the third off Gibson, who allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings.
Heaney held Minnesota without a hit through five but ran into trouble in the sixth when Eddie Rosario led off with his major league-leading 14th triple. Heaney gave up two earned runs and left after walking Joe Mauer to lead off the seventh. Trevor Gott entered and allowed Sano's home run.
SECOND GAME
Minnesota's Mike Pelfrey (6-9, 4.09 ERA) will face Garrett Richards (13-11, 3.81 ERA) in the nightcap.
"I'm sure he's feeling it a little bit," Molitor said when asked if Pelfrey has pressure on him. "I'm sure everyone's feeling it a little bit. We've seen four games come and go without a victory. You start to understand those things."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: All-Star closer Glen Perkins appeared in a game for the first time since Sept. 1, making his return from back spasms. He struck out the only batter he faced, Calhoun, with two runners on in the seventh. ... RHP Trevor May also made his return to the lineup after missing two games with a sore right hip. He pitched a scoreless eighth.
UP NEXT
The finale of the four-game series on Sunday will have Minnesota rookie RHP Tyler Duffey (3-1, 3.72) facing RHP Matt Shoemaker (7-9, 4.31) for the Angels. Duffey has allowed just four earned runs in 17 innings at home this season and beat Detroit in his last outing by allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings. Shoemaker will make his first start since Sept. 1 after dealing with right forearm tightness.
1:10PM,EDT,September 19,2015
Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Los Angeles - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Kyle Gibson pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Murphy struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Calhoun struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Trout struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Andrew Heaney pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Hicks flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Dozier popped out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Mauer struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Kyle Gibson pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Pujols flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Cron grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Aybar grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Andrew Heaney pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Sanó struck out looking. | 0 | 0 |
| Plouffe grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Hunter lined out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Kyle Gibson pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Freese walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Pérez grounded into double play, third to second to first, Freese out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| Featherston singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Featherston stole second. | 0 | 0 |
| Murphy grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Andrew Heaney pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Rosario struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Suzuki flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Escobar struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Gibson pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Calhoun struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Trout lined out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Pujols grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Andrew Heaney pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Hicks struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Dozier flied out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Mauer lined out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Gibson pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Cron fouled out to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Aybar singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Freese struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Aybar stole second. | 0 | 0 |
| Pérez flied out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Andrew Heaney pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Sanó struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Plouffe walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Hunter grounded into double play, first to shortstop to first, Plouffe out at second. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Gibson pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Featherston hit by pitch. | 0 | 0 |
| Murphy hit a ground rule double to left, Featherston to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Calhoun walked. | 0 | 0 |
| Trout hit sacrifice fly to right, Featherston scored, Murphy to third, Calhoun to second. | 1 | 0 |
| Pujols intentionally walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Cron grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Murphy scored, Pujols out at second, Calhoun to third. | 2 | 0 |
| Aybar grounded out to first. | 2 | 0 |
| 2 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Andrew Heaney pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Rosario tripled to deep center. | 2 | 0 |
| Suzuki singled to right, Rosario scored. | 2 | 1 |
| Escobar flied out to center. | 2 | 1 |
| Hicks popped out to second. | 2 | 1 |
| Dozier grounded out to third. | 2 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Kyle Gibson pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Freese singled to center. | 2 | 1 |
| Cowart ran for Freese. | 2 | 1 |
| Pérez singled to left, Cowart to second. | 2 | 1 |
| Featherston sacrificed to first, Cowart to third, Pérez to second. | 2 | 1 |
| Murphy grounded into fielder's choice to first, Cowart scored, Pérez to third. | 3 | 1 |
| Cowgill ran for Murphy. | 3 | 1 |
| Perkins relieved Gibson. | 3 | 1 |
| Calhoun struck out looking. | 3 | 1 |
| Fien relieved Perkins. | 3 | 1 |
| Cowgill stole second. | 3 | 1 |
| Trout struck out looking. | 3 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Andrew Heaney pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Cowgill in left field. | 3 | 1 |
| Cowart at third base. | 3 | 1 |
| Mauer walked. | 3 | 1 |
| Gott relieved Heaney. | 3 | 1 |
| Sanó homered to left center (441 feet), Mauer scored. | 3 | 3 |
| Plouffe singled to left. | 3 | 3 |
| Hunter singled to left center, Plouffe to third. | 3 | 3 |
| Rosario grounded into fielder's choice to second, Hunter out at second. | 3 | 3 |
| Suzuki bunted into fielder's choice to pitcher, Plouffe out at third, Rosario to second. | 3 | 3 |
| Escobar struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Trevor May pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| May relieved Fien. | 3 | 3 |
| Pujols grounded out to third. | 3 | 3 |
| Cron struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| Aybar grounded out to second. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Fernando Salas pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Salas relieved Gott. | 3 | 3 |
| Hicks bunt grounded out to catcher. | 3 | 3 |
| Dozier doubled to deep left. | 3 | 3 |
| Mauer struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| Sanó intentionally walked. | 3 | 3 |
| Plouffe struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Kevin Jepsen pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Jepsen relieved May. | 3 | 3 |
| Cowart struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| Pérez reached on infield single to shortstop. | 3 | 3 |
| Robertson ran for Pérez. | 3 | 3 |
| DeJesus hit for Featherston. | 3 | 3 |
| DeJesus flied out to center. | 3 | 3 |
| Joyce hit for Cowgill. | 3 | 3 |
| Joyce flied out to right. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Fernando Salas pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Jackson at second base. | 3 | 3 |
| Robertson in left field. | 3 | 3 |
| Iannetta catching. | 3 | 3 |
| Hunter struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| Álvarez relieved Salas. | 3 | 3 |
| Rosario grounded out to second. | 3 | 3 |
| Suzuki flied out to left. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 10th | SCORE | |
| Kevin Jepsen pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Calhoun lined out to center. | 3 | 3 |
| Trout flied out to center. | 3 | 3 |
| Pujols popped out to second. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 10th | SCORE | |
| Jose Alvarez pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Escobar struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| Hicks grounded out to shortstop. | 3 | 3 |
| Dozier grounded out to second. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 11th | SCORE | |
| Blaine Boyer pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Boyer relieved Jepsen. | 3 | 3 |
| Cron grounded out to first. | 3 | 3 |
| Aybar fouled out to left. | 3 | 3 |
| Cowart grounded out to second. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 11th | SCORE | |
| Jose Alvarez pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Mauer grounded out to first. | 3 | 3 |
| Morin relieved Álvarez. | 3 | 3 |
| Sanó struck out looking. | 3 | 3 |
| Plouffe struck out swinging. | 3 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles - Top of 12th | SCORE | |
| Blaine Boyer pitching for Minnesota | LAA | MIN |
| Robertson safe at first on error by second baseman Dozier. | 3 | 3 |
| Robertson to second on wild pitch by Boyer. | 3 | 3 |
| Iannetta walked. | 3 | 3 |
| Jackson sacrificed to pitcher, Robertson to third, Iannetta to second. | 3 | 3 |
| O'Rourke relieved Boyer. | 3 | 3 |
| Calhoun grounded out to shortstop, Robertson scored, Iannetta to third. | 4 | 3 |
| Tonkin relieved O'Rourke. | 4 | 3 |
| Trout intentionally walked. | 4 | 3 |
| Pujols walked, Trout to second. | 4 | 3 |
| Cron struck out swinging. | 4 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Minnesota - Bottom of 12th | SCORE | |
| Huston Street pitching for Los Angeles | LAA | MIN |
| Navarro at first base. | 4 | 3 |
| Street relieved Morin. | 4 | 3 |
| Hunter singled to center. | 4 | 3 |
| Buxton ran for Hunter. | 4 | 3 |
| Rosario sacrificed to third, Buxton to second. | 4 | 3 |
| Vargas hit for Suzuki. | 4 | 3 |
| Vargas struck out swinging. | 4 | 3 |
| Escobar fouled out to third. | 4 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Los Angeles Angels | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Murphy LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | .287 | .324 | .439 |
Cowgill PR-LF
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .229 | .288 |
a-Joyce PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .175 | .273 | .293 |
Jackson 2B
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .100 | .000 |
| Calhoun RF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 29 | .261 | .316 | .429 |
| Trout CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25 | .292 | .395 | .580 |
| Pujols DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | .238 | .302 | .464 |
| Cron 1B | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 24 | .264 | .302 | .448 |
Navarro 1B
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .256 | .301 | .308 |
| Aybar SS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | .266 | .299 | .328 |
| Freese 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | .258 | .321 | .411 |
Cowart PR-3B
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | .178 | .260 | .289 |
| Pérez C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .243 | .292 | .338 |
Robertson PR-LF
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .284 | .303 | .311 |
| Featherston 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | .173 | .227 | .259 |
b-DeJesus PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 | .295 | .329 |
Iannetta C
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .185 | .291 | .323 |
| Totals | 40 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 195 | |||
| a-flied out to right for C Cowgill in the 9th b-flied out to center for T Featherston in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Murphy (18, Gibson) RBI: Trout (84), Cron (44), Murphy (43), Calhoun (77) S: Jackson, Featherston SF: Trout GIDP: Pérez Angels RISP: 0-9 (Murphy 0-2, Trout 0-1, Pérez 0-1, Aybar 0-1, Cron 0-2, Calhoun 0-2) Team LOB: 10 | ||||||||||
| BASERUNNING SB: Featherston (4, 2nd base off Gibson/Suzuki); Aybar (12, 2nd base off Gibson/Suzuki); Cowgill (2, 2nd base off Fien/Suzuki) | ||||||||||
| FIELDING DP: 1 (Cron-Aybar-Cron). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Target Field, Minneapolis, MN |
| Attendance | 22,878 (58.6% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 4:15 |
| Weather | 63 degrees, sunny |
| Wind | 8 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Bill Miller, First Base - Stu Scheurwater, Second Base - Adrian Johnson, Third Base - Mark Wegner |
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