*Photo from the Taiwan News*
There was by no means a lot of offense on display, but it was enough. Gio Urshela and Gilberto Celestino homered, leading the Minnesota Twins past the Los Angeles Angels with a 4-0 shutout victory on Friday night in Anaheim.
After dropping to second place in the AL Central following a challenging series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Twins came out on top in this one. They've won 5 out of their last 10 games, and are 1 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the division lead. This win was good for their 10th shutout win of the season.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the hitting that "When you look up, Gio has a great night, Celestino's productive, that's what made the night offensively for us. We're going to continue to need that from those guys. Different parts of the order are going to have to contribute, but seeing those guys come up huge, we're going to expect it."
In the second inning, Celestino got the Twins on the board. He gave the Twins a 2-0 lead with a two run home run that got out to left field. After a few scoreless innings, the 6th rolled around. Urshela then made the lead 3-0 with a solo home run to center field.
After a scoreless 7th inning, the Twins came to bat in the top of the 8th and added on to their lead. Luis Arraez drove a single into right field, scoring Jose Miranda, which increased the Twins lead to 4-0, which held for the rest of the night.
Making his second start for the Twins after being acquired was Tyler Mahle. He picked up his first win in a Twins uniform, allowing 3 hits and two walks, striking out 6 hitters in 6 shutout innings. New acquisition Michael Fulmer delivered a shutout 7th inning, with Jhoan Duran handling the 8th, and new face Jorge Lopez sealing the win in the 9th.
Baldelli said of Mahle that "In his career, he’s thrown a lot of pitches and gotten through a lot of situations. It’s kind of what he does. It’s one of the things that I think he’s really good at from everything that I know and everything that I’m learning about him."
Getting the start for the Angels was Patrick Sandoval, who couldn't top Mahle on the mound. Sandoval was charged with two runs on 5 hits and 4 walks, lasting 5 innings and getting the loss. Mike Mayers came on and pitched the final 4 innings, allowing two runs on 4 hits while striking out 5 hitters, walking no one.
Angels interim manager Phil Nevin said of Sandoval's start that "He walked the No. 9 hitter twice. He was behind in the count a lot and his pitch count rose. But he got through five and it was a 2-0 game, so we still had a chance to win the ballgame there if we could get something going offensively. We just didn't."
Up next, the Twins and Angels continue their series on Saturday night back in Anaheim. Dylan Bundy gets the start for the Twins, while Reid Detmers takes the mound for the Angels.
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