And the streak goes on.
The Twins offense sputtered once again in a 5-2 loss to the Angels on Wednesday, and now they get staff ace Garrett Richards on Thursday afternoon as they try to avoid being swept in the three-game series. When Brian Dozier hit a two-run single in the second inning - giving the Twins a brief 2-1 lead - it appeared as if they were going to have a good day at the plate. Angels starter C.J. Wilson threw 105 pitches over five innings and was pulled, which should have been a good thing.
But the Twins were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday and left 12 runners on base. So the Twins have now lost nine straight to Angels and have not won here since July 23, 2013.
And they get staff ace Garrett Richards on Thursday afternoon.
``You understand how things are going for them and there's a lot reasons," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. ``They've got the feel of winning. They have leaders in the field. They are pitching really well. The bullpen guys they are marching out there are doing the job. So we're trying to find a way to play better than we have over the last four or five days."
Twins righthander Mike Pelfrey wasn't that bad, giving up two earned runs over six innings. He revealed after the game that he was sick with food poisoning on Tuesday but felt fine to pitch on Wednesday.
What he encountered on Wednesday was worse, a Angels team that knows how to get runners home. In anti-Twins fashion, the Angels got the leadoff batter on base in six innings, scoring in four of them. The Angels have won all six games since the All-Star break.
And they have staff ace Garrett Richards on Thursday afternoon.