Angels come up short and give the Twins their first winning streak of the year

Angels 4  Twins 6

We've yet to see a game where The Angels can put more than 5 runs on the board, and that proved to fall short yet again today.  Right out of the gate Weaver struggled throwing 52 pitches and giving up two through the first two innings, but we can score runs and the bullpen can take charge, right?  The Minnesota Twins, hot off their first win of the season, had other plans today.

Weaver was less than thrilled after a rough first inning and giving up 2 runs while the Twins sent 8 batters to the plate.  Velocity issues aside, he was struggling with control early on.  But no worries!  The Angel's offense had his back and after Cron, Simmons, and Soto singles, Cliff Pennington hit a 2 RBI double into right field.  Soto and Pennington then scored on an RBI single from Escobar, but that guy loves to get out on the bases and was thrown out at second for the second out.  Ortega walked and stole second while Trout killed with the ally with a K.

Despite a Trevor Plouffe homer in the 3rd, Weaver found his groove and only threw 27 pitches to get through the 3rd and 4th innings until his wheels fell off in the 5th.  Turns out Plouffe was his achilles heel as his RBI double would be end of Weaver who had a final line of 4.1 IP, 8H, 4ER, 2BB, 1K, and 96 pitches.

All was quiet and Nolasco continues to shut down the Angels after his second inning hiccup.  He would end up pitching 7 with 9H, 4ER, 2BB, 3K, and 100 pitches.  It was by no means a dominant performance but the lack of offense took it's toll.  Cory Rasmus took the ball from Weaver and did his job well, holding the Twins scoreless over 2.2 innings.

This game was very much alive when Joe Smith took to the mound in the 8th inning.  With one out, Oswaldo Arcia took Smith deep to center field for the Twins lead.  A few moments later, the collective sighs could be heard from Halo's fans when Byung Ho Park took Smith deep to the tune of about 460 feet.  Back to back jacks and this game was done.

Former Angel Kevin Jepsen came in for the save, just to rub salt in the wounds.  I guess the only consolation that came out of the post game interview, is that he owes his buddy Joe Smith dinner tonight.  I'm not sure how friendly that dinner is going to be so I hope they have a strong friendship.

Perhaps the only highlights of this game for the Angels were Escobar going 3 for 4, Ortega's first hit and stolen base as an Angel, Pennington continuing to play  well and Jered Weaver's 1,500th career strikeout.  Congrats Weave!

Somehow the Twins managed their first win of the season against the Angels last night, and now they are on a winning streak.  Heartbreak is a slight understatement as to how most fans feel right now.  It was a tough loss indeed.