ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Whenever Shohei Ohtani is on the mound, the Los Angeles Angels feel confident they can pull off a win.
Ohtani hit nine in six innings and Mickey Moniak hit his second big hit of the series with a two-run double in the seventh as the Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 on Sunday.
Alex Kirilloff hit a home run and Carlos Correa hit an RBI double for the Twins, who lost four balls out of six on their road trip through Southern California.
Ohtani didn’t come to a decision despite conceding just one run and two hits. It was the fourth time in ten starts this season that the two-way superstar had nine or more strikeouts.
“It was really good today,” said Angels manager Phil Nevin. “He’s had five wins and held us in every game. He gave up some runs when we took the lead but he seems to have gotten us to the finish line with that lead. He knows exactly when to call back.”
The Angels improved to 8-2 when Ohtani started and scored a three-game streak for the first time since early May. Ohtani leads the majors with a .142 opponent batting average and is third in strikeouts with 80.
Ohtani threw 99 shots against the Twins. Of his 62 hits, 22 were weak hits, which made up his best of the season.
“Getting the swings and misses is tremendous and better than getting fouled. So I’m doing my pitches and that’s a good sign,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
Moniak, who netted a triple on Friday night, delivered a two-run double in the seventh to give the Angels a 3-1 lead. Pinch-hitter Matt Thaiss hit a leadoff walk to chase starter Pablo López (2-3) and Zach Neto followed with a double to Jorge López’s right to set up Moniak.
Moniak almost stole a home run from Kirilloff in the eighth round. He attempted to make a jump catch into the left stand after Kirilloff’s solo shot across the line, but the ball bounced out of his glove.
“I’ll take the game-winning goal all day,” said Moniak. “It’s good to get a series win in a day game.”
Chris Devenski (2-0) took the win and Carlos Estévez saved for the 12th time.
Correa scored the Twins’ first hit in the third inning. His right center double came from Joey Gallo, who came on board with a two-out walk.
The Angels equalized in the fourth game. Hunter Renfroe and Jared Walsh opened the inning with base hits before Gio Urshela’s sacrifice flight put Renfroe home.
AL Central leaders Minnesota was competitive in every game on the trip against the Dodgers and Angels but lost all in the late innings.
“When you lose a handful of tight ball games where you were either in the lead or you had clear chances – several clear chances – and you don’t capitalize on it, that’s hard to stomach,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “We’re close to playing full baseball games, but we’re not there yet.”
BACK TO FORM?
Sunday’s performance was more in line with what Ohtani showed earlier in the season when he conceded just two earned runs and eight hits in his first five starts.
The right-hander was 2-1 in his last four appearances but had given up 17 runs and 18 hits, including eight home runs.
“I was trying to control the home runs and not make them feel good on the plate. I was trying to make sure they weren’t making good swings,” Ohtani said of Sunday’s outing.
The only thing Ohtani wasn’t happy about was his three walks and also a hit batter.
TRAINING ROOM
Twins: DH Byron Buxton was given the day off after retiring from Saturday’s game with a strain in his right leg.
Angels: LHP Aaron Loup has been ruled out of injury list after missing 15 games with a left hamstring strain.
NEXT
Gemini: RHP Bailey Ober (3-0, 1.78 ERA) makes his third straight start against an interleague opponent in the opener of a three-game streak at home against San Francisco.
Angels: RHP Jaime Barria (1-1, 1.96 ERA) got his first start of the season in the opener of a three-game set against the Boston Red Sox. Barria has made 10 appearances outside of the bullpen.
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