Matt Wallner hit a home run for the second game in a row, and Brooks Lee ended his 0-for-19 slump with a two-run double that put the Twins ahead as they won 6-4 against the Angels on Wednesday night.
Royce Lewis almost hit his sixth career grand slam in the seventh inning. His drive to left field was first ruled a home run, but after a review, it was determined that the ball hit the top of the wall and came back into play, giving him a two-run double instead.
Wallner’s 13th homer of the season into the left-center field bullpens tied the game after Taylor Ward of the Angels hit his 23rd homer to start the game. Willi Castro had an RBI single to end his 0-for-16 streak during a three-run fourth inning for the Twins.
“I think we feel good,” Wallner said. “Guys getting hits and just continuous hits, driving guys in, in scoring position, is huge for us.”
Minnesota has won two games in a row after losing six of their last seven. The Twins are still six games behind Cleveland and 1 1/2 games behind Kansas City in the AL Central. They are three games ahead of Detroit for the final AL wild-card spot.
“We got some really nice swings,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You could feel the offense kind of brewing there. … You could feel the guys, the good energy, the good at-bats that they gave us. They were really locked in and doing their part in a nice way.”
Nolan Schanuel hit his 13th homer of the season among his three hits, and Jordyn Adams added his first career homer for the Angels, who have lost four of their last five games.
“It felt good,” Adams said. “I was going up to the plate looking for something hard and obviously I got it. And I just tried not to miss it. I was fouling them back my previous two at-bats and that was my main focus. Just get it in play.”
Rookie starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-5) gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings for the Angels. He came into the game with five straight quality starts since being recalled on August 10 for his third stint in the majors.
“I felt good, but I need to be better with the breaking balls as usual,” Kochanowicz said. “But they were just on the sinker. But then when I hit my spots and I did that a little later on, I started using the four-seamer to get them off of it.”
