ANAHEIM, CALIF. – Justin Upton's grand slam broke open a tight game in the seventh, and Jared Walsh followed with a solo shot as the Angels routed the Twins 10-3 on Friday night.
Twins clobbered 10-3 by Angels in opening game of West Coast road trip
The top of the Angels' batting order was a thorn in the Twins' side all game, breezing to a series-opening win.
April 17, 2021 at 7:00AM
The Twins claimed a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Mitch Garver hit a two-run double off former teammate Aaron Slegers and Josh Donaldson followed with an RBI single.
But the Angels went ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the inning off reliever Randy Dobnak when Mike Trout bounced a two-run single through a drawn-in infield.
After Dobnak gave up three hits and a run in the seventh, Caleb Thielbar relieved him and struck out Shohei Ohtani with two men on for a second out. Thielbar had two strikes on Trout when a wild pitch sent a runner to second, and with first base open, Trout was walked intentionally to load the bases. Upton followed with his eighth career grand slam, belting a fat Thielbar curveball into the left field seats to make it 9-3.
"It's Mike Trout in front of you, so you've got to expect that," Upton said of the Twins' decision to load the bases and get to him.
Walsh followed with a home run just inside the right field foul pole.
"They walk Trouty, and Justin makes them pay," Walsh said.
With their sixth loss in seven games, the Twins fell to 6-8 on the season.
"Going into it, you try not to think about it as much," Twins starter Lewis Thorpe said of facing the likes of Trout and Ohtani. "They're two excellent hitters, and they've got a good lineup out there. You can't really be intimidated because then they're going to beat you."
Thorpe pitched four innings, giving up three hits, before Dobnak came in for the fifth.
Jorge Alcala eventually helped the Twins limp out of the seventh, but Renaissance man Willians Astudillo added closer to his extensive résumé, pitching the eighth without any further damage. His seven pitches, one of which was a lobbed 46-mph strike, were his first since July 14, 2018, when he gave up five runs to Tampa Bay. The most recent Twins position player to pitch was Ehire Adrianza, last August.
Slegers, despite his rough outing, picked up the win in relief of Andrew Heaney, while Dobnak fell to 0-3.
Eiberson Castellano must remain on the major-league roster in 2025, and is projected as a reliever.
