For the second time of the night, Mike Trout hit his second home run of the game in the top of the fourth inning, extending the Angels lead to 9-6.
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“You’re thrusting an inexperienced kid in a tough spot there, coming in bases loaded and facing that guy over there”, Molitor said. Trout finished with two homers, three walks and five RBIs. Shoemaker has missed his last two starts with forearm tightness….
Weekly Projection: New York Yankees host Houston Astros in AL Wild Card Game. “Every one that we play is going to be big and we need to win them all”.
Torii Hunter and Aaron Hicks went deep for the Twins (75-71), who trail the Astros by 1½ games in the crowded AL playoff race.
“We kept pressuring them”.
“Split doubleheaders are never a favorite for anybody”, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “It was good to see”.
Los Angeles Angels Albert Pujols, left, congratulates Mike Trout following his grand slam off Minnesota Twins pitcher A.J. Achter during the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, September 17, 2015, in Minneapolis.
“I don’t know how much you can expect at this stage of the season in one day to regain a lot”, Molitor said. “That’s what they did”.
The Twins used six hurlers, while the Angels cycled through 9 arms.
“It’s a really bad thing when they don’t hurt”, Molitor said. Setup man Trevor May, who has been dealing with tenderness in his hip, will likely be available, too. He’s faced the Yankees twice this year and has yet to allow a run in 16 innings against them. Twins 1B Joe Mauer has reached in a career high-tying 36 consecutive games and is six shy of Bob Allison’s team record.2. “But it got ugly”. “We chatted just briefly after the game last night. It’s disappointing to squander a five-run lead right out of the chute like that”. Texas was once a team that seemed to stand no chance this year as they started the season without Yu Darvish or Jurickson Profar and sat eight games back in the division on August 1. “They just ran away with it”. I still don’t think it gets them into the playoffs. The offense has really struggled, just 10th in the AL in runs scored this month, and 11th in the American League in the second half. Milone gave up a leadoff double to third baseman David Freese and a one-out single to catcher Chris Iannetta, cutting into the lead at 5-1.
NOTES: Angels INF Grant Green was available off the bench after missing the last two weeks with soreness in his Achilles tendon.
Since July 1 – a sample of more than 300 plate appearances – Dozier is hitting just.201/.279/.368. Angels RHP Matt Shoemaker will throw a bullpen session on Friday and could start Sunday if he has no setbacks…. He has not pitched since September 1 because of soreness in his neck and back that required two cortisone injections….
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The Twins lost their third consecutive game at Target Field and once again failed to improve their standing in the American League wild card race. Garrett Richards (13-11, 3.81) will pitch the nightcap for Los Angeles.
