Kyle Farmer had three hits and Joey Gallo homered to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night in Anaheim, Calif.
The Twins had 12 hits in all, while getting five-plus serviceable innings from starting pitcher Louie Varland and four shutout innings from the bullpen to seal the victory. The only runs the Angels scored off Varland came on an RBI groundout by Jared Walsh and a solo homer from Shohei Ohtani.
Varland (2-0) began the sixth inning but gave up the homer to Ohtani and a single to Hunter Renfroe before hitting Brandon Drury with a pitch. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen, summoning Jovani Moran, who retired the next three hitters in order to get out of the inning.
Relievers Jorge Lopez, Brock Stewart and Jhoan Duran followed Moran to close it out.
The Twins took a 3-0 lead against Angels starter Patrick Sandoval (3-3), getting RBI singles from Farmer and Kyle Garlick and a squeeze bunt from Willi Castro that scored Farmer from third.
Varland kept the Angels off the scoreboard until the fourth, when Renfroe singled and went to third on a double by Drury to lead off the inning. Walsh, making his season debut after recovering from neurological symptoms, drove in Renfroe with a groundout to first to cut the Angels’ deficit to 3-1.
The Twins upped their lead to 4-1 in the top of the sixth on Gallo’s leadoff homer. It was his 11th home run of the season. Ohtani matched it, also hitting his 11th homer by ripping a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to get the Angels within 4-2.
Sandoval took the loss, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings with three strikeouts.
The Twins increased their lead to 6-2 against Angels reliever Andrew Wantz in the seventh. Trevor Larnach hit an RBI triple but also scored on the play after a throwing error from Drury.
–Field Level Media
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