The Minnesota Twins will begin their final road trip of the season on Thursday night when they open a four-game series with the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
The Twins (71-81) also will play three games at San Francisco beginning Monday before heading home for a three-game, season-ending series against the Texas Rangers.
Right-hander Taj Bradley (11-6, 3.81 ERA), just 10 strikeouts shy of 200 for the season, will start the series opener for Minnesota and will oppose rookie right-hander Walbert Urena (9-10, 2.88).
The Angels (58-94) need to at least split their final 10 games to avoid becoming the first team in franchise history to lose 100 games in a season.
Bradley is 1-0 with a 2.95 ERA in three career appearances (all starts) against Los Angeles. The win came in Minneapolis on July 12, when he allowed six hits and two runs, including solo home runs to Josh Lowe and Denzer Guzman, while striking out six over seven innings in a 4-2 victory.
Bradley’s mound opponent on Thursday, the hard-throwing Urena — who regularly hits 100-plus mph with his power sinker — will make his 26tth start and his first against Minnesota. He is 4-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break, with 53 strikeouts in 56 innings.
Urena has been especially tough to beat at Angel Stadium, where he is 8-2 with a 2.42 ERA in 14 starts. He picked up a no-decision in his last start on Saturday in a 6-5, 10-inning loss at Washington, allowing four runs for only the second time in 12 starts since early July. He struck out seven and allowed nine hits and two walks over six innings.
The flight to Southern California was upbeat for the Twins after they grinded out a 5-4 victory in 13 innings over the New York Yankees on Wednesday afternoon, the longest game of the season for Minnesota.
Pinch hitter Victor Caratini grounded a ball up the middle that Yankee shortstop George Lombard Jr. couldn’t glove, allowing automatic runner Luke Keaschall to score the game-winner. It was Minnesota’s fifth walk-off victory of the season but only the team’s second triumph in the past seven games.
“Extremely proud,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “We’ve talked about this team being resilient. We’ve talked about battling through some adversities. … Overall, I’m really proud of this entire group.”
Los Angeles, meanwhile, took two of three games from the visiting Seattle Mariners but missed a chance on Wednesday to finish just its second three-game series sweep of the season with a 7-2 loss.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi, who had a 1.59 ERA over his three previous starts, struggled with his control, walking five and giving up five hits and five runs (four earned) over 4 1/3 innings.
“From the start of the game, I knew today that I didn’t have my best stuff,” Kikuchi said. “The games I perform well, I feel like I was able to attack the zone with the stuff I had. I know that if I’m able to do that, I’ll get good results, and today was just one of those days.”
Angel hitters didn’t do much better, leaving 14 men on base while going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. One bright spot was rookie third baseman Denzer Guzman, who finished with four hits and a run.
–Field Level Media
