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Saturday, Jun. 24 10:05pm ET
Back-to-back-to-back HRs can't beat Twins | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The last time the Anaheim Angels faced Eric Milton, they couldn't put a dent in the hit column. For a time Saturday night, they kept putting dents in outfield seats. But they still couldn't beat him. "The only good thing was, they were all solo homers," said Milton, who bounced back from back-to-back-to-back homers in the second inning to pitch seven strong innings in Minnesota's 11-5 victory. Led by a 16-hit attack featuring five RBI by catcher Marcus Jensen, Milton improved to 3-0 against Anaheim. "I got away with some pitches late in the game. Sometimes, you have to be lucky," said Milton, who gave up four runs and nine hits, with one walk and six strikeouts. It was a far cry from his no-hitter last Sept. 11 in the Metrodome, and Milton (7-2) expected to struggle on seven days' rest. His start was pushed back two days after he bruised a bone on his left hand when he was hit by a batting practice ball Tuesday. "I could feel the extra rest out there," he said. "I don't think I ever got my rhythm the whole game. I couldn't get the fastball down." Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus and Scott Spiezio homered to start the second, rallying the Angels to a 3-3 tie. "He was very strong, as we were concerned that he might be," Minnesota manager Tom Kelly said. "He couldn't get the fastball down and the breaking ball over, and paid a price for it." But the game's most damaging homer belonged to the Twins' Jacque Jones, whose two-run drive into the left-field corner boxes gave Minnesota a 5-4 lead and angered Anaheim starter Kent Bottenfield (4-6). "A lot of guys were diving across the plate, and that was my fault," said Bottenfield, referring mostly to homers by Jones and Corey Koskie, both left-handed hitters. "I wasn't knocking hitters off the plate. "It's not going to happen again. Guys have been too comfortable (against me) for 2½ months. And that's going to stop." The Twins stopped a six-game losing streak against the Angels. After Jones' 11th homer had given the Twins a 5-4 lead, Koskie made it 6-4 the next inning with his third homer. Jensen, 2-for-3 with two walks, broke it open with his second two-run double of the game in the seventh. He picked up a fifth RBI on a ninth-inning infield grounder, matching his previous season total in 34 games and 91 at-bats. "We work well together. He's a very smart catcher," Milton said. "The hits and the runs batted in are a bonus." The switch-hitting Jensen, whose two-run double keyed a three-run rally in the second, hit his second double off left-handed reliever Mike Holtz. Jensen, whose five RBIs doubled his season total, had been 0-for-18 batting right-handed. Milton carried a 12 1/3 inning hitless streak against the Angels into the game, but could add only one out to that before Benji Gil's double. Another Milton streak of 21 1/3 shutout innings against Anaheim also ended with the second-inning homer barrage. It was the second time this season that three straight Angels homered. Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon and Anderson did it on May 28 in Kansas City. "To give up homers like that and come back and shut us down ... you've got to give him credit," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. "After that inning, he pretty much did what we expected from him." Minnesota took a 3-0 lead in the second on Denny Hocking's RBI double and Jensen's two-run ground-rule double. Anderson's RBI single in the third gave the Angels a 4-3 lead. Bottenfield, making his first start in 16 days after being sidelined with shoulder tendinitis, threw 92 pitches in five innings, gave up six runs, seven hits, walked four and struck out four. "He made some great pitches. Most important, he felt physically fine afterward," Scioscia said. "He had a chance to put some guys away, but couldn't make the pitches." The Twins' last three runs came on RBI singles by Koskie and Jones and Jensen's RBI grounder in the ninth Game notesGlaus left for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning, suffering from lower back spasms. He will be kept out of Sunday's game. ... Anaheim reliever Tom Turnbow got the final out in his first appearance since June 3. ... Koskie has hit in 11 straight games, going 15-for-34. ... Spiezio made his second start of the season at third base. The first was May 4 at Baltimore. ... Anderson, who has 51 RBI, joined Mo Vaughn (57), Darin Erstad (54) and Glaus (51) to give the Angels four players with 50-plus RBI before the All-Star break for the first time. ... Gil matched his career high with three hits. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Minnesota Clubhouse Anaheim Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 8 Detroit 1
Detroit 14
Minnesota 11
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