Twins fall to Angels in series opener
· Yahoo Sports
Angels 4, Twins 3
Starting pitcher performanceZebby Matthews was touched for four runs in his six-inning start, giving up a pair in both the fourth and fifth innings after three scoreless innings to begin the game. Matthews allowed a leadoff home run to Vaughn Grissom in the fourth followed by a double to Jorge Soler, who later came around to score on a balk.
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“I didn’t declare going to the windup. Normally, I don’t go out of the windup. Just stay out the stretch there,” Matthews said. “Like (pitching coach) Pete (Maki) and I talked about, just go to the stretch there even with runners on. Just unacceptable there.”
An inning later, the Angels strung together four straight hits and that, combined with a sacrifice fly, led to another two runs, giving them a 4-1 lead at the time.
“I felt I was searching all night. I just didn’t feel like I executed pitches well at all,” he said. “I didn’t think there was a ton I did good out there today.”
Key momentThe Twins scored first, using a pair of doubles from Trevor Larnach and Josh Bell in the first inning to do so. They added another pair of runs in the sixth inning to pull themselves within a run with Bell, who doubled earlier in the inning, scoring on a Brooks Lee double and Royce Lewis, who singled, scoring on an Austin Martin ground out.
But the game ended up coming down to the very final inning and though the Twins put up a fight — Larnach doubled with one out to bring the winning run to the plate — Kody Clemens’ line out was snagged by leaping first baseman Nolan Schanuel to end the game.
“We had some opportunities to score and we didn’t capitalize on them,” manager Derek Shelton said. “And we gave up a run on a balk, which we can’t do.”
Up nextJoe Ryan (6-5, 2.85 ERA) will get the ball on Saturday for the second game of the series on Saturday. Because he is starting Saturday, Ryan would be eligible to pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. He will face Ryan Johnson (1-4, 6.99 ERA). The Twins will have a pregame ceremony to induct longtime broadcaster Dick Bremer into the team Hall of Fame.