Moniak's 3 hits, defense help Angels rally for a 5-4 victory over Twins
Mickey Moniak had three hits and made a game-saving catch at the wall in the seventh inning as Los Angeles rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night after Angels starter Reid Detmers took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
Hunter Renfroe also had three hits for the Angels, who gave Mike Trout the day off after the team flew cross country Thursday after completing a four-game series in Baltimore.
Detmers tied a career high with 12 strikeouts and allowed only three Twins to reach base via walks before Byron Buxton lined a base hit to left with two outs in the sixth to end the left-hander's bid for a second no-hitter. Carlos Correa's walk and Buxton's single started a three-run rally that allowed Minnesota to tie the score.
Detmers ended up allowing three runs and two hits.
Willi Castro homered in the seventh inning for the Twins to give them a short-lived 4-3 lead.
Moniak, who was playing Trout's usual spot in center field, was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle. His triple in the seventh inning drove in Zach Neto and tied the score at 4-all.
Moniak was thrown out at home when trying to score on Taylor Ward's fielder's choice, but Ward scored the go-ahead run on Renfroe's base hit.
In the top of the seventh, Moniak made a well-timed jump at the wall to rob Michael A. Taylor of what would have been a solo home run that would have given the Twins a two-run advantage.
Zack Weiss (1-0) got the win and Carlos Estevez picked up his 11th save.
Griffin Jax (2-6) was charged with the loss.
The Angels opened the scoring in the third when Taylor Ward's sacrifice fly brought home Zach Neto. Los Angeles added two runs in the fourth. Hunter Renfroe led off the inning with a base hit and scored on Brandon Drury's double off the left field wall. Drury advanced to third when Gio Urshela lined out to center and scored on catcher Ryan Jeffers' throwing error when Luis Rengifo stole second base.
After Buxton's base hit in the sixth, Kyle Farmer followed with an RBI single to left to end Detmers' night. The Twins then tied it on Alex Kirilloff's two-run double down the right-field line off Jimmy Herget.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: 2B Jorge Polanco (hamstring) will be out of the lineup for a couple days to see if he can avoid being placed on the injured list. ... OF Kyle Garlick was called up from Triple-A St. Paul after Nick Gordon went on the IL when he fractured his right tibia after fouling a pitch off his leg during Wednesday's loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Angels: INF Jared Walsh (headaches and insomnia) could be activated before Saturday's game. ... LHP Aaron Loup (right hamstring strain) threw a bullpen session on Friday and could face hitters on Monday.
UP NEXT
Twins: RHP Louie Varland (1-0, 4.30 ERA) makes his fifth start of the season after going a career-high 6 1/3 innings in last Sunday's win against the Chicago Cubs.
Angels: LHP Patrick Sandoval (3-2, 3.22 ERA) came within two outs of throwing a no-hitter against the Twins last season.
