The Los Angeles Angels head into the home finale of their 2026 season with a chance to do something they haven’t accomplished since late June — win back-to-back home series.
The Angels (60-95), who played spoiler and took two of three games from the Seattle Mariners earlier in the week, will try for their third win in a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins (72-83) on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
The last time Los Angeles took consecutive home series came June 22-28, winning two of three games from both the Baltimore Orioles and the Athletics.
Kurt Suzuki’s squad will finish the season with games against the A’s on Tuesday and Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif., and a four-game series at Seattle. The Angels need to go at least 3-4 to avoid losing 100 games in a season for the first time in franchise history.
Rookie right-hander Ryan Johnson (5-8, 4.88 ERA), the Angels’ second-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Dallas Baptist, entered August with a 2-6 record and a 7.63 ERA.
But in eight starts since, he has mixed his cutter with sweepers and sinkers and a funky delivery to go 3-2 with a 2.03 ERA in eight starts, allowing just 29 hits in 44 1/3 innings with 33 strikeouts.
He will be opposed by right-hander Dean Kremer (3-5, 5.35).
Johnson comes in off a 2-1 victory over Seattle on Tuesday night when he allowed one run on six hits in six innings with a season-high seven strikeouts. He began the game by throwing 16 consecutive strikes, and threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 25 batters he faced.
“That might be the best game he pitched this year, honestly,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “What was it, (16) straight to start the game going for strikes? I thought he did a great job of mixing and matching, and he really attacked the strike zone.”
Johnson is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the Twins. That start came on July 11 in Minneapolis when he allowed three runs on three hits, including a two-run homer by Royce Lewis, in five innings in a game Minnesota eventually won, 5-3. He did not figure into the decision.
Kremer is 3-0 with a 2.18 ERA in four career starts against Los Angeles, including 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two starts at Angel Stadium.
Minnesota will head to San Francisco for three games starting Monday, then finish the season at home with a three-game set against American League West leader Texas. The Twins are just 2-5 in their past seven games and have been walked off twice in three games by the Angels.
The Twins led 5-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth on Saturday and eventually lost, 6-5, in 11 innings on a two-out, bases-loaded comebacker by Christian Moore that caromed off the leg of pitcher Taylor Rogers.
“Unfortunately, we get the ground ball and it hits off his leg there,” Minnesota manager Derek Shelton said. “(But) the story of the game is we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities.”
The Twins finished 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base.
–Field Level Media
