Angels split doubleheader with Twins

Angels' Juan Lagares is tagged out by Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson while trying to steal third base.

Staff Writer

May 20, 2021 Updated 7:12 PM PT

Shohei Ohtani returned to the Angels’ lineup for the second game of a doubleheader Thursday against Minnesota in Anaheim.

And not much else positive happened for Ohtani or his teammates after that.

The two-way standout struck out in all three of his plate appearances as the Twins won 6-3 to secure a split. The Angels took the opener 7-1.

Ohtani sat out the first game - he appeared in each of the Angels’ first 42 games to start the season - after he acknowledged feeling fatigued during a start on the mound Wednesday against Cleveland.

By the time he batted Thursday, the Angels already trailed 4-0 as Griffin Canning struggled mightily in the first inning.

Canning entered having allowed only three earned runs and one homer in three May starts.

He then gave up four earned runs and a homer over the course of the Twins’ first five hitters, Miguel Sano driving a grand slam 413 feet to left.

Canning needed 35 pitches to get through the first and another 33 to survive an adventurous but scoreless second. After those 68 pitches, he was pulled.

By the end of the second, though, the Angels had closed to within 4-3 on a Jose Rojas homer, a Taylor Ward RBI double and a Drew Butera run-scoring single.

That’s as close as they’d get, Minnesota adding runs on solo homers by Mitch Garver and Trevor Larnach.

Twins starter Jose Berrios retired the final 11 batters he faced, Ohtani not the only Angel to misfire against him.

Former Angels reliever Hansel Robles pitched the seventh inning for his second save.

Game 1

Angels Phil Gosselin hits a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins.

Phil Gosselin began Thursday with three RBIs for the season.

He then had four RBIs in the first two innings of what became a 7-1 Angels victory over Minnesota in the first game of a doubleheader in Anaheim.

“ ‘Goose’ can hit,” manager Joe Maddon said. “It’s not surprising at all. … He’s got a live bat. The ball comes off hot.”

Gosselin’s offensive production helped make Alex Cobb a winner for the second time this season. Cobb hadn’t pitched since May 4 because of a blister issue.

He gave up one second-inning run on a sacrifice fly and retired the final 12 batters he faced.

“I thought he kept getting better,” Maddon said. “For all the inactivity and everything else, I thought he threw the ball really well.”

Cobb was removed after only 57 pitches — 44 of them strikes — because he said he began to develop “a little hot spot in that same area” where the blister first surfaced.

Maddon said the issue is something the Angels will have to continue paying attention to, but he didn’t sound overly concerned.

“Really, different part of the year, different set of circumstances, he might have gone at least one more [inning],” Maddon said. “He was throwing that well and he finished real strongly. But, [with] a really fresh bullpen in a seven-inning game, it didn’t make any sense.”
Steve Cishek worked the sixth and seventh to close it out, the Angels ending a two-game losing streak and winning for just the third time in their past nine games.

Facing left-hander Lewis Thorpe, Gosselin hit a solo homer in the first inning and followed with a two-out, full-count, bases-loaded double in the second.

The four RBIs matched his career high, and the homer was his first with the Angels.

In February, Gosselin signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. The Angels, his seventh organization in a big league career that began in 2013, promoted him May 4.

Over his past 11 games, Gosselin is batting .353 with five extra-base hits and six RBIs.

“Honestly, this is who he is,” Maddon said. “It’s not like there’s an ascension of sorts. I think more playing time if anything [has helped] … He’s going to do this wherever he’s at.”

The 32-year-old utility man started at first base in place of Jared Walsh, who was rested after appearing in 40 of the Angels’ first 42 games. Gosselin had played in 14 games with 42 at-bats before Thursday.

A better defender, Walsh did enter the game in the sixth to finish.

Taylor Ward added a two-run homer and Juan Lagares an RBI double for the Angels.

The doubleheader is a makeup of two games that were postponed in mid-April because of COVID-19 issues involving the Twins.