Jo Adell and Kenny Rosenberg lift Angels to victory over Twins
MINNEAPOLIS — Jo Adell homered, Kenny Rosenberg outpitched Sonny Gray and the Angels beat the Twins 1-0 on Saturday, a day after Minnesota clinched the American League Central title.
Rosenberg (2-2), a 28-year-old left-hander making his fourth big league start and ninth appearance, gave up five hits and two walks in five innings with five strikeouts. Carlos Estévez, the Angels’ fourth reliever, hit Kyle Farmer with a pitch starting the ninth, then got three straight outs for his 31st save in 35 chances.
“Sometimes your best results aren’t necessarily your best execution or your best stuff,” Rosenberg said. “I felt like I was good. I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff, but navigated some runners on base in the first inning and then a couple really nice plays behind me defensively.”
The Angels scored a run and loaded the bases in the ninth but fell short in an 8-6 loss to the American League Central-champion Minnesota Twins.
Gray (8-8) gave up a fourth-inning homer to Adell on a first-pitch sinker, just the eighth home run off Gray this season. He gave up four hits in six innings and struck out eight, lowering his ERA from 2.84 to 2.80, second in the AL to the New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole at 2.75.
Gray possibly will make one more regular-season start. He has pitched 180 innings, his most since throwing 208 in 2015. He is the eighth pitcher since 2000 to throw at least 180 innings with eight or fewer homers given up.
“I felt strong. I felt convicted,” Gray said. “I tried to just enjoy everything that I could yesterday and last night, then also know that, for me, I had a job to do today.”
Starting in place of injured center fielder Mike Trout, Adell hit a 428-foot drive to center for his third homer this season. Adell also made a leaping catch in front of the wall to rob Michael A. Taylor in the sixth.
“He’s so strong that it may not hit the middle of the barrel, he can still get them out,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said of Adell. “He’s impressing me. He really has. It’s just the work he’s put in, the improvements he’s made over the time I’ve gotten here till now. I’m not sure I’ve seen someone improve that much over a short period of time.”
The Angels (70-85), assured of their eighth straight losing season, won for just the second time in nine games.
After their late-night celebration of a division title, several of the Twins regulars were out of the lineup. But Minnesota clinched the AL Central for the third time in five seasons under manager Rocco Baldelli and likely will be the No. 3 seed for the postseason.
There is a small chance the Twins could catch the AL West leader for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye, but Baldelli conceded before the game that scenario is unlikely.
Shohei Ohtani has ended another disappointing season with the Angels after being placed on IL, however, his time with the team has elevated him.
“We’re going to try to win every game and see what happens at that point,” Baldelli said before the game. “I do know it’s very unlikely even if we win virtually every game from here on out. To get a bye, it’s going to be a very difficult thing.”
Streak extended: Nolan Schanuel singled in the eighth inning off Josh Winder, extending his streak of reaching base at the start of his big league career to 26 games. Schanuel, the 11th overall pick in this year’s amateur draft, trails only Alvin Davis (47 games in 1984), Truck Hannah (38 games in 1918) and Enos Slaughter (29 in 1938).
Injury updates: Left-hander Tyler Anderson will not start as scheduled Sunday and will be placed on the injured list with left knee soreness, ending his first season with the Angels. Anderson was scheduled to start the series finale but was experiencing more soreness following a bullpen session Friday. Anderson, 26, ends the season with a 6-6 record, a 5.43 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 141 innings. ... Nevin said Anthony Rendon (tibia fracture) won’t return this season. ... Jamie Barría (right hamstring tightness) was activated from the 15-day injured list. Jhonathan Diaz was optioned to triple-A Salt Lake.
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