| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The last time the Anaheim Angels faced
Eric Milton, they couldn't put a dent in the hit column.
For a time Saturday night, they kept putting dents in outfield
seats.
But they still couldn't beat him.
"The only good thing was, they were all solo homers," said
Milton, who bounced back from back-to-back-to-back homers in the
second inning to pitch seven strong innings in Minnesota's 11-5
victory.
Led by a 16-hit attack featuring five RBI by catcher Marcus Jensen, Milton improved to 3-0 against Anaheim.
"I got away with some pitches late in the game. Sometimes, you
have to be lucky," said Milton, who gave up four runs and nine
hits, with one walk and six strikeouts.
It was a far cry from his no-hitter last Sept. 11 in the
Metrodome, and Milton (7-2) expected to struggle on seven days'
rest. His start was pushed back two days after he bruised a bone on
his left hand when he was hit by a batting practice ball Tuesday.
"I could feel the extra rest out there," he said. "I don't
think I ever got my rhythm the whole game. I couldn't get the
fastball down."
Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus and Scott Spiezio homered to start
the second, rallying the Angels to a 3-3 tie.
"He was very strong, as we were concerned that he might be,"
Minnesota manager Tom Kelly said. "He couldn't get the fastball
down and the breaking ball over, and paid a price for it."
But the game's most damaging homer belonged to the Twins' Jacque
Jones, whose two-run drive into the left-field corner boxes gave
Minnesota a 5-4 lead and angered Anaheim starter Kent Bottenfield
(4-6).
"A lot of guys were diving across the plate, and that was my
fault," said Bottenfield, referring mostly to homers by Jones and
Corey Koskie, both left-handed hitters. "I wasn't knocking hitters off the plate.
"It's not going to happen again. Guys have been too comfortable
(against me) for 2½ months. And that's going to stop."
The Twins stopped a six-game losing streak against the Angels.
After Jones' 11th homer had given the Twins a 5-4 lead, Koskie
made it 6-4 the next inning with his third homer.
Jensen, 2-for-3 with two walks, broke it open with his second
two-run double of the game in the seventh. He picked up a fifth RBI
on a ninth-inning infield grounder, matching his previous season
total in 34 games and 91 at-bats.
"We work well together. He's a very smart catcher," Milton
said. "The hits and the runs batted in are a bonus."
The switch-hitting Jensen, whose two-run double keyed a
three-run rally in the second, hit his second double off
left-handed reliever Mike Holtz. Jensen, whose five RBIs doubled
his season total, had been 0-for-18 batting right-handed.
Milton carried a 12 1/3 inning hitless streak against the Angels
into the game, but could add only one out to that before Benji
Gil's double.
Another Milton streak of 21 1/3 shutout innings against Anaheim
also ended with the second-inning homer barrage.
It was the second time this season that three straight Angels
homered. Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon and Anderson did it on May 28 in Kansas City.
"To give up homers like that and come back and shut us down ...
you've got to give him credit," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia
said. "After that inning, he pretty much did what we expected from
him."
Minnesota took a 3-0 lead in the second on Denny Hocking's RBI
double and Jensen's two-run ground-rule double.
Anderson's RBI single in the third gave the Angels a 4-3 lead.
Bottenfield, making his first start in 16 days after being
sidelined with shoulder tendinitis, threw 92 pitches in five
innings, gave up six runs, seven hits, walked four and struck out
four.
"He made some great pitches. Most important, he felt physically
fine afterward," Scioscia said. "He had a chance to put some guys
away, but couldn't make the pitches."
The Twins' last three runs came on RBI singles by Koskie and
Jones and Jensen's RBI grounder in the ninth
Game notes
Glaus left for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, suffering from lower back spasms. He will be kept out of Sunday's game. ... Anaheim reliever Tom Turnbow got the final out in his first appearance since June 3. ... Koskie has hit in 11 straight games, going 15-for-34. ... Spiezio made his second start of the season at third base. The first was May 4 at Baltimore. ... Anderson, who has 51 RBI, joined Mo Vaughn (57), Darin Erstad (54) and Glaus (51) to give the Angels four players with 50-plus RBI before the All-Star break for the first time. ... Gil matched his career high with three hits.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Minnesota Clubhouse
Anaheim Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 8
Detroit 1
Detroit 14
Cleveland 8
(2nd game)
NY Yankees 12
Chi. White Sox 8
Kansas City 8
Oakland 3
Toronto 6
Boston 4
Seattle 2
Baltimore 1
Tampa Bay 9
Texas 7
Minnesota 11
Anaheim 5
St. Louis 6
Los Angeles 1
Philadelphia 8
Montreal 1
San Francisco 13
Houston 4
Cincinnati 11
San Diego 5
Florida 7
Chicago Cubs 4
Milwaukee 2
Atlanta 1
NY Mets 10
Pittsburgh 8
Colorado 4
Arizona 0
|