Twins' quick trip to California results in doubleheader split with Angels

ANAHEIM, CALIF. – One of the most persistent symptoms of COVID-19 is exhaustion. Now the Twins will find out for themselves.

Minnesota flew four hours on Wednesday night to reach Southern California, and hurried off to make a five-hour flight to Cleveland on Thursday evening, a draining cross-country journey made necessary by the cancellation of games during their outbreak of the virus last month.

But it was worth it. In between airports, the Twins managed to split a pair of games at Angel Stadium during their brief Southern California interlude, an achievement by definition mediocre yet undeniably rewarding for a last-place team scrambling to regain its equilibrium.

Jose Berrios allowed three runs over five innings, Miguel Sano continued his home-run tear with a grand slam, and the Twins rebounded from a 7-1 Game 1 drubbing by capturing a 6-3 victory in Game 2. The win ended a five-game road losing streak, represented their first non-nine-inning victory after 12 consecutive extra-inning or seven-inning losses — and kept Bill Evers undefeated as a major league manager.

"The players produced and the W happened," said Evers, now 3-0 as a fill-in manager for the Rays and Twins. "It was a really well-played game by the guys."

Evers, who got the battlefield promotion while Rocco Baldelli served a one-game suspension stemming from Tuesday's ejection, must have instructed Sano to keep hitting home runs. The slugging first baseman came up with the bases loaded in the first inning and crushed a two-strike fastball from righthander Griffin Canning into the Angels' bullpen, his fifth home run in six days and his second career grand slam.

"I tried to be ready for the first few changeups. He threw me a couple of fastballs," said Sano, who watched Jorge Polanco wait out a nine-pitch walk to load the bases. "And I told him to throw it right [again], and I got it. I hit a grand slam."

Berrios also gave up an RBI double to Taylor Ward and a run-scoring single to former Twin Drew Butera — but nothing else, retiring his final 11 batters in order, albeit only because an apparent home run by Jared Walsh was discovered by the replay umpire to have hooked foul.

"I was a little bit mad because I say, 'How did [Rojas] hit that homer?' Because we called fastball up, but he hit it like easily," said Berrios, whose team is now 5-4 when he starts, a statistic that he said makes him particularly proud during an otherwise ugly season. "I've tried to be aggressive, pitch by pitch, and it worked after that."

Taylor Rogers and former Angel Hansel Robles finished off the victory, a task made easier when Mitch Garver and Trevor Larnach added solo home runs, Larnach's the first of his career.

That win sent the Twins to the airport with a lot better feeling than they would have had without it, considering the lethargic, get-it-over-with loss they took in Game 1. After quickly falling behind, the Twins managed zero hits in the final five innings.

Game 1 boxscore: LA Angels 7, Twins 1

Lewis Thorpe, summoned to start as the extra player added to the roster for doubleheaders, lasted four innings and allowed four runs, though three of them were unearned because of Josh Donaldson's failure to handle David Fletcher's ground ball in the Angels' three-run second inning.

It was Thorpe's third start, each of them coming at least two weeks apart, and the Twins are 0-3 in them.

"It's tough. Tough. You know, I've got to do it. And I've got to get better at it," said the discouraged lefthander, who will return now to Class AAA St. Paul. "I feel part of the team, but not really. It's just tough coming up one day at a time."

Still, the Twins salvaged a long day on a long journey.

"At this point, [there] is some sense of normalcy [about it], just kind of flying by the seat of our pants. It's just something we've got to do, be professional about it," Rogers said. "The other team doesn't care that you have to do this. They don't give you any slack, so it's our job to go and play our best baseball."