​MINNEAPOLIS — The Angels twice grabbed the lead, and twice they couldn’t hold onto it. Los Angeles dropped the series finale 4-2 to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, bringing their first half to a close at 38-59 heading into the All-Star break. It was a tough finish to the portion of the schedule that hadn’t generously rewarded them with late-inning rallies or consistent offense.
The scoring started in the second inning when Josh Lowe belted a solo homer, his eighth of the season, giving the Angels a brief advantage. Jose Soriano worked with a 1-0 edge into the third, but that lead dissolved quickly. Luke Keaschall and Ryan Kreidler opened the frame with back-to-back singles, and Trevor Larnach followed with a single to bring home Keaschall, tying the game. Then Ryan Jeffers delivered a two-run double to left that scored Kreidler and Larnach, flipping the scoreboard to 3-1 in the bottom half of the frame.
That inning proved decisive. Soriano steadied afterward, retiring six of the next seven batters, but the early damage proved costly. He finished with three earned runs allowed on five hits across five innings, matching six strikeouts in a losing effort.
The Angels did have opportunities earlier to answer. In the third, Mike Trout and Nolan Schanuel each collected singles, but Jorge Soler grounded into a force out to end the threat. Trout and Schanuel reached again in the sixth, only to see Jo Adell ground into a double play. Both Trout and Schanuel went 2-for-4 on the day, creating baserunners but leaving without a run to show for it.
Denzer Guzman finally pulled Los Angeles within one in the seventh, homering for the fourth time this season to cut the deficit to 2-3. The Angels were not able to sustain that momentum, however. In the following inning, Trevor Larnach answered with his seventh homer of the year off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn, restoring the Twins’ two-run lead and effectively sealing the outcome.
The eighth inning brought another Angels push with Denzer Guzman contributing a solo shot in a celebratory moment for the club, but the late inning rally didn’t materialize into a comeback. The Angels’ final bid in the ninth saw Wade Meckler draw a pinch-hit walk and Guzman singling to put runners at first and second, but Logan O’Hoppe lined out to end the game, and the club’s first half concluded with a sense of unfinished business.
In sum, it was a game of two lead changes that the Angels could not sustain. The early advantage vanished in a pivotal third inning, with the Twins seizing momentum and never relinquishing it despite a late push from Los Angeles. As the All-Star break approaches, the Angels will look to regroup, refine their approach at the plate, and build on the hopeful flashes they showed in stretches of this contest.