Twins 12, L.A. Angels 10 (10)

The pinch-hitter's smash to right-center capped yet another comeback, this one after a ragged pitching performance.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: April 20, 2006 - 3:57 AM

Find the person who predicted the Twins' starting pitching staff would have a 7.05 ERA to start the season, and they'll show you the person who predicted a comeback like the one they made Wednesday night.

Amazing how it works, sometimes.

Kyle Lohse puts the Twins in a huge hole against the Los Angeles Angels.

They come back to tie it with two outs in the ninth inning against closer Francisco Rodriguez, and then win 12-10 in the 10th when Michael Cuddyer connects for a two-run homer off former Twins reliever J.C. Romero.

By the time the Twins stopped celebrating around Cuddyer at home plate, before an announced crowd of 21,507 at the Metrodome, Lohse's struggles seemed forgotten.

Or, at least forgiven.

"That was a nice win for us," Cuddyer said. "It kind of reminds us of a couple years ago, when we never gave up until the last out. We felt like we were always in the game."

The Twins have a reason to believe it again this year.

They are 7-7, and they've had to come from behind for every win.

But this one went above and beyond the other six.

Down 9-4, the Twins scored four runs in the sixth inning, chasing Angels starter Ervin Santana.

The Angels made it 10-8 in the seventh, but Torii Hunter homered, trimming the lead back to one.

Leading 10-9 in the ninth, the Angels turned to Rodriguez, the wunderkind closer from Venezuela.

The Twins immediately loaded the bases, but Rodriguez promptly retired Justin Morneau and Tony Batista for the next two outs.

It was like Saturday night revisited, when the Twins put runners at second at third with no outs against New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

That time, Rivera got two quick outs before Morneau won it with a broken bat single. This time, Lew Ford worked the count full, and watched a slider in the dirt for ball four. Tie game.

The Twins used closer Joe Nathan to pitch a scoreless 10th, and in came Romero, who had turned some heads with his old teammates recently when he said the Angels bullpen is the best he's ever been a part of.

Luis Castillo drew a one-out walk, stole second base and was standing on third with two outs.

With Nick Punto due up, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire turned to Cuddyer.

"He's seen [Romero]," Gardenhire said of Cuddyer. "He's played behind him a number of times, and he knows what he's going to try to do."

Cuddyer looked at the first strike. With a 0-1 count, Romero tried a change-up. Cuddyer hit it over the center field wall.

"Hey fellas, I'm going to make a statement," Romero said. "This is not about J.C. and the Twins. Losing [stinks]. It wouldn't matter if it was the Yankees or Tampa Bay."