More results...
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The pitching matchup certainly lived up to the billing.
Shohei Ohtani was Shohei Ohtani and Pablo López was Pablo López, which is to say that the two starting pitchers spent the majority of the day dealing, settling into a nice little pitcher’s duel.
It wasn’t until each pitcher left the game that things broke down for the Twins, yet another bases-loaded opportunity falling to the wayside in the top of the seventh inning and the Angels surging ahead against the bullpen in the bottom of the frame. Both were all-too-familiar happenings for the Twins on their six-game road swing through Southern California, which ended with a 4-2 loss to the Angels on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim.
López took the loss in the game, left in to start the seventh inning. He walked the first batter, spelling the end of his day. From there, Jorge López entered, immediately giving up a pair of doubles to Zach Neto and Mickey Moniak, the latter of which brought home a pair of runs.
The game swung in the Angels’ direction right after the Twins were unable to capitalize on a bases-loaded, one-out situation. Strikeouts from catcher Ryan Jeffers and left fielder Joey Gallo kept the game tied at one apiece at that point.
The Twins could do little against Ohtani, who gave up just two hits in his six-inning effort. One of those hits, a Carlos Correa double, brought home their first run of the game in the third inning. The second, an Alex Kirilloff home run, came in the eighth inning.
Pablo López, for the most part, matched him. The Twins starter, who has had particular trouble in the first inning, allowed a pair of singles to Mike Trout and Ohtani, but struck out the next two batters to escape unscathed. He didn’t allow another run until the seventh inning, the runner he left on base coming around to score after his departure.
More results...