Not much to say.
Pelfrey, for a change, was neither great nor terrible, but merely mediocre. Wilson threw a ton of pitches in five innings, but the Twins could do nothing with the Angels bullpen. Sano returned to the lineup and went 0-for-3, although he did walk twice. The Twins held Trout and Pujols down, but couldn't hold down most of the rest of the lineup.
I was in bed by the second inning, and judging from the number of LTEs in the game log, either a lot of other people were, too, or the game simply wasn't very interesting. So, I'm going to give you a Minor Details-style recap (and yes, I am hoping to get that at least somewhat caught up today).
Batting stars: Danny Santana was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run. Aaron Hicks was 2-for-4 with a run. Joe Mauer was 2-for-5.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Johnny Giavotella was 3-for-4 with a triple and three runs. Chris Iannetta was 2-for-4 with a home run, his seventh. Kole Calhoun was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
The game: In the third, Brian Dozier had a two-run single following a double steal to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. It didn't last long, as an error, Calhoun's RBI single, and a double play resulted in two Angels runs in the bottom of the third to put them back ahead 3-2. Calhoun singled in another run in the fifth and Albert Pujols doubled one home in the seventh. The Twins had their chances, putting at least two men on in four of the last six innings, but did not score again.
Of note: Dozier was 1-for-5 with two RBIs. Miguel Sano was 0-for-3 with two walks. Mike Pelfrey pitched six innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on nine hits and a walk with one strikeout.
TODAY'S TILT
2:35 Ervin Santana (1-0, 3.66) at Garrett Richards (10-6, 3.24)
We'll just have to settle for 118-44!
Interesting that a lefty pitcher started and the three batting stars are two switch-hitters and a lefty. Hicks has his season OPS up to .700 and his .331 on-base average is better than all the regulars except for Mauer and Sano, and he's been getting better and better this season. It might be time to put him at the top of the order. At least second if not first. At the very least, bat him ahead of Rosario, who has a .696 OPS with a .297 on-base average and a 53-8 K-BB ratio.
Hicks has been moving up the lineup slowly. His batting and slugging this season are now career highs with on-base just 10 points below last season's .341. At least the Twins will have a capable backup should Buxton not pan out.
Stat of the day: 9 of Sano's 11 walks have come after he fell behind in the count 0-2. He also has a 1.011 OPS on 0-2 counts.
That's a cool stat. SSS and all, but still pretty cool.
That's plate appearances that end on an 0-2 count. Good numbers (now 1.111 OPS) but it comes from nine PAs. Using the less misleading "After 0-2" stat says he has a .913 OPS after reaching 0-2.
Either way, it's still pretty good.
Man, I miss the Twins being good.
Just watched the condensed game. Pelf was throwing batting practice. Don't know how he only gave up 4
Technically he gave up only 2, and that still should have been good enough, all things considered.