Twins aim to continue power display in opener vs. Angels
The Minnesota Twins set aside their slow start with a four-game sweep of the worst team in baseball.
After easily dispatching the Chicago White Sox, the Twins will face another struggling team Friday night when they open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
Minnesota won just seven of its first 20 games before outscoring visiting Chicago 25-11 in the four-game set. The Twins hit five homers while notching a 6-3 victory in Thursday’s finale.
“That’s a full clubhouse of big league baseball players, and we won four games,” Minnesota catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “We could have easily come in here and not shown up and lost some of these games. To be the team we want to be, you’ve got to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat. We did a good job of that.”
Jeffers hit one of the five Minnesota homers. Edouard Julien smacked two, and Carlos Santana and Jose Miranda each hit one.
Julien hit solo shots in the sixth and seventh inning and has a team-best seven in 80 at-bats.
“There’s going to be times where I’m going to hit four in one week, and there’s months where I’m not going to go through with home runs,” said Julien, who hit 16 homers in 338 at-bats last season. “For me, I’m more of a complete hitter than a power hitter, and my goal is just to get on base and help the team win.”
The Twins will try to stay hot against an Angels squad that has lost six of its past seven games.
Los Angeles is scuffling despite Mike Trout leading the majors with 10 homers.
“I’m just trying to be more consistent,” he said. “Some at-bats, I feel really good. And some at-bats, I’m just trying to figure things out. I’m just trying to put a full game together.”
Trout has homered in each of the past two games. The first came in a 7-4 home win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, but the second occurred in a 6-5 setback on Wednesday.
Despite Trout’s strong start, the Angels are five games below .500 at the 25-game mark in their schedule.
“I think the mindset is that if we keep on coming in and working, and working, it’ll turn,” Trout said. “The guys are battling, but things just aren’t going our way right now. But we’re going to keep fighting.”
Trout has never batted against Minnesota right-hander Bailey Ober (1-1, 4.91 ERA), who will face the Angels for the second time on Friday. Ober received a no-decision against Los Angeles on July 25, 2021, when he gave up two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Ober, 28, is 1-0 with 1.08 ERA in his three starts in April, allowing two runs and eight hits in 17 innings. He began his season by being torched for eight runs and nine hits over 1 1/3 innings in a loss to the Kansas City Royals on March 31.
In his last turn, Ober gave up one run and two hits over six innings while beating the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. He struck out six and walked one.
Left-hander Patrick Sandoval (1-3, 6.75 ERA) will look to rebound from a tough outing when he takes the mound for the Angels on Friday.
Sandoval, 27, lost to the Cincinnati Reds in his last turn on Saturday when he gave up seven runs and six hits over four-plus innings. He struck out six and walked five.
Sandoval is 1-2 with a 2.95 ERA in three career starts against the Twins.
Manuel Margot is 3-for-7 against Sandoval, and Christian Vazquez has one homer.
