ANAHEIM — The Angels bailed out their bullpen, for once.
The Angels scored two runs in the 10th inning of a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night, salvaging a game in which they had blown a three-run lead in the eighth.
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Ben Joyce gave up a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth, tying the score. It was his third blown save in his last nine outings. Left-hander Blake Weiman then gave up two hits in the 10th, as the Twins converted their automatic runner.
In the bottom of the inning, though, Vaughn Grissom hit a fly ball to move the runner to third. After Zach Neto walked, Mike Trout lined a single into center field, tying the score and sending Neto to third.
Wade Meckler singled on the first pitch he saw to drive in Neto with the winning run, as the Angels (59-94) won for just the fifth time in 19 extra-inning games this season.
With the victory, the Angels avoided what would have been a crushing loss on a night when starter Walbert Ureña pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and walking none.
The Angels led 3-1 when Joyce took the ball in the ninth. He struck out the first two hitters he faced, but then he gave up a single on a 103-mph fastball to Victor Caratini.
Walker Jenkins, one of the top prospects in baseball, then drilled a 101 mph fastball just barely over leaping center fielder José Siri, for a game-tying two-run homer.
Just like that, Urena’s victory was gone, even though he pitched one of his best games of the season.
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Ureña’s 2.74 ERA is the best among Angels starters this season, even better than Reid Detmers.
“It’s been fun to watch, really, the 100 mph fastballs consistently with the nasty changeups and sliders,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said before the game. “I think the consistency’s been really good. Even the games where he kind of struggles a little bit in the beginning, he finds a way to grind through it and give us a chance to win, which I think is a huge thing for a younger pitcher.”
Ureña hit 100 mph nine times on Thursday night, and his velocity across all of his pitches was slightly up from his averages this season. He has allayed any fears that the workload of his first major league season would catch up to him in September.
“He works on his routine in the weight room and the training room, doing his arm care,” Suzuki said. “All that stuff has been tremendous. He’s been definitely a positive for the team.”
In the first inning, Ureña gave up two hits, but he stranded the runners with a strikeout of Emmanuel Rodriguez, one of the Twins’ top prospects.
After that, he allowed just two singles over the next six innings.
One of the few issues he’s had this season has been his control, but he had that dialed in on Thursday. He started 19 of 25 hitters with a strike, and he did not walk a batter for the third time this season. Ureña generated a season-high 22 whiffs.
The only runs the Angels scored with him on the mound came in the first inning.
Trout drew a one-out walk, and then Meckler reached on an infield hit. Moisés Ballesteros hit a 109 mph line drive into center, knocking in Trout. Guzman, who had four hits on Wednesday, followed with an RBI single. Oswald Peraza drove in the final run of the inning with a two-out single.
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More to come on this story.