Minnesota Twins Comeback Falls Short, Swept By Angels

Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Twins needed their multi-million dollar man to stop their potential losing streak in California today. Ricky Nolasco did not do that. The projected ace of the staff gave up six runs on 11 hits over in six innings of work in the Twins 6-4 loss to the Angels.

To give the Twins offense a little bit of an excuse, they did have to face Jared Weaver. Weaver only gave up one run in seven innings, but did surrender 11 hits to Minnesota.

The Twins did try to make a game of it in the ninth innings. The Twins were down 6-1 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs before Joe Mauer hit a three-run double to cut the lead to 6-4. Kendrys Morales was up as the tying run, but struck out to end the ballgame.

Minnesota is now on a three-game slide after being on a four-game winning streak after sweeping the White Sox over the weekend. The Twins now sit eight games back of first place Detroit, who have quietly won seven straight games.

There are some positives to be taken away from Thursday afternoon’s contest though. Joe Mauer had a 3-for-5 day with three RBI which is pretty good. Chris Parmelee went 3-for-4 on the day which is excellent for someone who’s not getting a lot of consistent playing time.

The feel good story of the game is Jorge Polanco getting his first MLB game action. Danny Santana underwent an MRI which revealed his injury was just a knee bruise, but the Twins still sent Yohan Pino down and brought Polanco up from Single-A. Polanco received a plate appearance and drew a walk while pinch hitting for Pedro Florimon.

Santana’s injury being a bruise is good news, but it remains unclear how long he will be unable to play. Also unclear is who will take Pino’s spot in the rotation, a spot that he held for only two starts.

The boxscore for Thursday’s game can be found here.