ANAHEIM ― For the second consecutive night, the Angels did not put enough runners on base to have a chance to beat the Minnesota Twins.
Until the ninth inning.
Down to their final strike, the Angels tied the game on a two-run triple by Magneuris Sierra to send the game into extra innings.
Then in the 11th inning, a two-run home run by Taylor Ward against Emilio Pagan lifted the Angels to a stunning 5-3 win before an announced crowd of 43,027. It was the third time the Angels have won a game this season in their final plate appearance.
“Unbelievable,” Ward said, breaking into a rare smile. “It feels really good. Super happy.”
The Angels were trailing 3-0 in the eighth inning when Shohei Ohtani blasted a home run to center field against flamethrowing reliever Jhoan Duran. That represented the Angels’ first run in the series.
The Angels’ six-through-nine hitters were a combined 1 for 12 with no walks going into the ninth inning when number-6 hitter Jo Adell singled against the Twins’ recently-acquired closer, Jorge Lopez. With two outs, Lopez walked Max Stassi. That brought up Sierra, the Angels’ number-9 hitter.
Sierra stroked Lopez’s 1-and-2 pitch to left field, slicing toward the line and away from Nick Gordon. Gordon dove, but the ball snuck under his glove and trickled all the way to the wall. Adell and Stassi scored, tying the game 3-3.
Sierra could’ve cruised comfortably into third base, but coach Mike Gallego windmilled him home. Twins shortstop Carlos Correa, the relay man on the play, made a near-perfect throw from shallow left field to catcher Gary Sanchez. Sierra couldn’t get his left hand under Sanchez’s tag. Home plate umpire Dan Bellino called Sierra out, a call that was upheld after a brief review.
“I always dreamed about having a walk-off homer,” Sierra said in Spanish. “When I rounded second it was on my mind ― ‘I’m going to make it, I’m going to make it, I’m going to make my dream come true.’ But it couldn’t (happen).”
The Angels had an even better chance to end the game in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Sierra was placed on second base in accordance with the extra-inning tiebreaker rule. David Fletcher bunted Sierra to third base, and Pagan intentionally walked Ohtani.
The next batter, Luis Rengifo, hit a scorching line drive to shallow center field, where only a lightning sprint and last-second dive by Byron Buxton kept the ball from falling for a hit. Interim manager Phil Nevin had called for Ohtani to steal second base.
Ohtani ran all the way to second base and was doubled off first base to end the inning. Nevin took the blame for how the inning ended.
“I’m glad they picked me up,” Nevin said.
The Angels (50-64) are 5-5 in extra innings this season. Ryan Tepera (2-2) pitched a scoreless 11th inning and was credited with the win.
For five innings, Angels starter Reid Detmers essentially limited the Twins’ damage to one batter.
Correa hit a solo home run in the first inning and hit a fly ball to right field a few feet shy of a grand slam in the fifth inning, settling for a sacrifice fly. Booed before every plate appearance ― a remnant of his role in the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal ― Correa reached base five times in addition to his sac fly.
Detmers allowed two runs in five innings, walking three batters and striking out nine. Other than Correa’s home run, he did not allow an extra-base hit. He threw 29 of his 96 pitches in the fifth inning, but allowed only one run to score after Minnesota loaded the bases with nobody out.
The Twins collected an insurance run in the eighth inning against Aaron Loup, using two singles and a swinging safety squeeze to take a 3-0 lead.
Pitching out of trouble was the Angels’ saving grace. The Twins went 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base.
“We struck out (15) tonight, and a lot of them were big moments,” Nevin said. “There were guys on base. We pitched in and out of traffic, like we did (Saturday) night. The sign of a good pitcher, when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he finds a pitch that’s going to get him out of that inning. (Detmers) did that. Loupy did that even though he gave up a run. Jesse (Sanchez) did when they had first and second (in the ninth inning).”
Dylan Bundy entered Saturday’s start for the Minnesota Twins with a 6.01 earned-run average in 22 games in Anaheim. Two years ago, when he picked up Cy Young votes as the ace of the Angels’ starting rotation, he had a 4.38 ERA at home and 1.88 on the road.
In his first start since leaving the Angels after the 2021 season, Bundy tossed five shutout innings.
