Marwin Gonzalez Helps Power Twins To 8-3 Victory Over Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Marwin Gonzalez keeps coming through for the Minnesota Twins. The designated hitter homered and drove in three runs as the Twins rallied for an 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
Gonzalez's two-run shot in the sixth tied the game at three. Minnesota then broke it open with four in the seventh off Luke Bard (1-2). Gonzalez's two hits extended his hitting streak to 11 games, which is the second-longest active streak in the majors.
The Twins have won five of six on their road trip and at 32-16 have a seven-game lead in the AL Central.
"We have one of the best offenses in the league. We can change a game in one inning and that is basically what we did today," said Gonzalez, who is batting .378 with three home runs during his hitting streak. "We're not depending on two or three guys. Everyone is capable to do good things and it is working right now."
Minnesota's first four hitters in the order combined to go 8 for 18 and drove in seven runs.
AL batting leader Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario each had two hits and drove in two runs while Max Kepler added two hits.
"Eventually we got to the middle of the game, able to kind of settle in and started driving the ball around the ballpark a little bit," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Luis Arraez, who made his major league debut last Saturday, had two hits, including his first home run in the eighth.
The Angels' bullpen had another rough night as it allowed seven runs on eight hits, including two home runs. Starter Trevor Cahill came into the game with 14 home runs allowed but yielded just one run on two hits in five-plus innings.
"The bullpen has been an extreme strength of ours, so I'm not gonna, after two games, claim it's a weakness," Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. "It's a pretty good offensive club we're playing against in the Twins. I'm not gonna read too much into it so we'll come back tomorrow."
Minnesota's Michael Pineda (4-3) allowed three runs the first two innings but only one hit in his final four innings.
"The first two innings I tried just attack everybody with my fastball. After that, I threw my changeup more," Pineda said.
David Fletcher had three hits for Los Angeles, which has dropped three straight. Mike Trout hit his 11th home run , a solo shot to left in the first inning off Pineda's fastball.
The Angels added a pair of runs in the second when Fletcher's single drove in Brian Goodwin and Luis Rengifo scored on a wild pitch by Pineda.
Minnesota rallied to tie it in the sixth. Max Kepler's double to right chased Cahill and Polanco followed with an RBI double. Gonzalez then drove Justin Anderson's slider down the right-field line for his fifth home run of the season.
GOING DEEP
The Twins have homered in 14 of their last 15 games and have 90 on the season, which is second in the majors. Seattle leads with 93.
NICE DEBUT
Arraez has hit safely in all four games in the majors. He has hits in 20 of his last 21 games over three levels — Double-A Pensacola, Triple-A Rochester and the Twins.
REED TO BE RELEASED
Minnesota chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said pitcher Addison Reed will be released once he clears unconditional waivers. The right-handed reliever was designated for assignment last Thursday.
The 30-year-old Reed is getting $8.5 million the second season of a $16.75 million, two-year contract. He went 1-6 with a 4.50 ERA in 55 appearances last season.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: C Mitch Garver (high left ankle sprain) took some light swings off a batting tee and some light jogging in Minneapolis.
Angels: C Kevan Smith was hit in the mask by a foul tip during the fourth inning. He was replaced by Jonathan Lucroy in the fifth.
UP NEXT
Twins: LHP Martin Perez (6-1, 2.89 ERA) has 30 strikeouts in May, which is the fifth among American League starters.
Angels: RHP Matt Harvey (1-2, 6.69 ERA) has been charged with two or fewer runs in four of his last five starts.
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