Arcia, Park Homer In 8th To Lift Twins Over Angels 6-4
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oswaldo Arcia and Byung Ho Park homered in the eighth inning to lift Minnesota over the Los Angeles Angels 6-4 on Saturday, giving the Twins their second consecutive comeback victory after opening the season with nine straight defeats.
Arcia broke a 4-all tie with his first home run of the season. It came off reliever Joe Smith (0-1) and was Minnesota's first hit since the fifth inning. One batter later, Park — who had the decisive hit Friday night — added his own solo shot to give the Twins some insurance.
Trevor Plouffe had three hits and also homered for Minnesota.
Ryan Pressly (1-0) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the win in relief of starter Ricky Nolasco. Kevin Jepsen threw a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Nolasco worked seven innings for the second consecutive start, although he wasn't as sharp as his first outing against Kansas City. The veteran righty gave up all four of his earned runs in the second inning, blowing an early 2-0 lead.
Angels starter Jered Weaver usually dominates Minnesota — he is 9-2 against the Twins and hasn't lost to them since August 2010 — but he struggled early on Saturday. He allowed two runs in the first inning, and Plouffe tagged Weaver for a solo homer in the third and a tying double in the fifth.
Minnesota jumped ahead 2-0 before Los Angeles got five straight hits against Nolasco in the second to take a 4-2 lead.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: The team placed reserve OF Daniel Nava on the disabled list with left knee tendinitis. Manager Mike Scioscia said the knee gave Nava trouble in spring training before flaring up during a series in Oakland earlier in the week. The Angels recalled Rafael Ortega from Triple-A Salt Lake to take Nava's spot on the roster. . Scioscia said LHP Tyler Skaggs, working his way back from reconstructive elbow surgery, felt good after throwing three innings for Salt Lake on Friday.
Twins: Manager Paul Molitor said OF Byron Buxton's bruised left hand was feeling better, but Buxton needs to feel more comfortable in batting practice before returning.
UP NEXT
Angels: Nick Tropeano (1-0) makes his second start of the season Sunday after throwing five scoreless innings in his season debut last Monday at Oakland.
Twins: Kyle Gibson (0-2) will try for his first win against the Angels on Sunday in his third start of the season. Gibson has faced Los Angeles six times, going 0-2 with a 7.18 ERA with nine walks and 17 strikeouts.
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