New game, same story: Twins bullpen can't close out Angels

Everywhere he turns these days, Albert Pujols trips over another milestone. Saturday night, run No. 1,500 was a byproduct of home run No. 517, which was eclipsed by hit No. 2,500 for the Angels slugger. The only numbers the Twins have to add up, meanwhile, are the losses: 81 now, guaranteeing their fourth consecutive season without a winning record.

For the third night in a row, the Angels scored the go-ahead run in the ninth or 10th inning, ripping away what looked like Twins victories in the most cruel way possible. This time the score was 8-5 Angels, owners of the best record in baseball, and the late-inning contrast between the two teams was never greater: The Angels capitalize. The Twins capitulate.

"These guys have been very, very good. To see them struggle now, it's probably because of the workload," manager Ron Gardenhire said of his beleaguered bullpen, which has absorbed three losses and posted an ERA of 10.00 in this series. "They're a little worn out and a little leery, but they want the ball and we'll keep giving them the ball."

Phil Hughes had the ball for most of the night, and he appeared headed for his 16th victory, most by any AL pitcher. He retired 13 of the last 14 hitters he faced to record his 18th quality start of the season, and the Twins ace left with a 5-3 lead. It took all of three batters for the Angels to tie the score against Casey Fien: a single by Pujols, a triple by Howie Kendrick and a sacrifice fly by Erick Aybar.

"It happened quick," Gardenhire said with some amazement. "Boom, boom. [Fien] gets pitches up and they square them."

Still, the Twins had a chance to break the tie and victimize the Angels' weary bullpen, too. Joe Mauer led off the eighth with a double, putting the go-ahead run on second with no outs. But Mauer went no further, watching his teammates strike out and ground out twice, sending the game to the ninth still tied.

Only for a bit, though. With two outs and a runner on second, reliever Jared Burton — who gave up the winning run on Friday — fell behind Mike Trout 2-0. They engaged in a seven-pitch battle before Trout walked, bringing up Albert Pujols, who had already socked a home run off Hughes.

Actually, 2,500 times. That's how many career hits Pujols has collected in his Hall of Fame-bound career, and this round number ended up in the left-field corner, scoring both runs. Howie Kendrick followed with his fourth hit, and third RBI, of the night, off Anthony Swarzak, and baseball's hottest team had won for the ninth time in 11 games.

For Hughes and the Twins, it was opportunity lost in more than one way. Not since Johan Santana tortured hitters in the Metrodome had a Twins pitcher led the American League in victories this late in a season, but the tall righthander, with five wins in the past month and 15 on the season, had a chance to join the Cy Young winner on Saturday.

Hughes, signed to a three-year contract last November, gave up single runs in the first three innings, including a solo home run to Pujols, the 517th of his career. But just as it appeared it wasn't his night, Hughes abruptly stopped putting runners on base. The only baserunner that reached after the third inning was by hitting Chris Iannetta with a pitch.

Hughes struck out eight, giving him 165 on the season, to only 15 walks. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.0 would tie him with Bret Saberhagen in 1994 as the best in major league history.

"I was kind of all over the place, made a couple of mistakes early," Hughes said. "Fortunately, I was able to make a couple of pitches to get out of it. Those first couple [of innings] could have been a lot worse. … I was able to get zoned in after that."