The Twins are still in line to win their fifth straight series, but it should be a sweep because the Los Angeles Angels are 20 games under .500.
If the Twins want to be contenders and not pretenders, then this is the kind of team they need to beat. They dropped Game 1 in a one-run loss, but bounced back on Saturday to edge the Halos 5-3.
Joe Ryan again made another quality start — his 11th of the season — but the win finally went to newcomer and reliever Tommy Nance, who the Twins recently acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays.
But first Nance blew the save and then picked up the win after the Twins rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Yoendrys Gomez closed out the game for his 11th save.
The Twins scored five runs on nine hits, with most of the offense being supplied by the surging Royce Lewis. He cracked a double and a two-run dinger to give him 10 on the season. Since returning to the club from Triple-A St. Paul on June 6, Lewis has homered seven times.
Taj Bradley gets the ball Sunday.
Extra innings…
–Ryan’s line: Two runs allowed on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts across six innings on 94 pitches. His ERA stand at 2.85.
–A low-level deal for a low-level reliever: The Twins sent minor league catching prospect Ryan Sprock to the Blue Jays to get the 35-year-old Nance. This is not what I had in mind when I said the Twins needed to make a deal to get some quality relief talent, although Nance through 32 games for the Blue Jays this season had pitched to a 3.82 ERA. Aim a little higher, Minnesota.
–Not bad, Zebby: Zebby Matthews took the loss in Friday’s 4-3 defeat, although he didn’t pitch that poorly. He just missed a quality start by allowing four runs over six innings with two walks and three strikeouts. He falls to 4-6 with a 4.57 ERA.
–With the third pick in Saturday’s amateur draft, the Twins took Georgia Tech catching prospect Vahn Lackey. Lackey put up some gaudy numbers for the Yellow Jackets in 2026, slashing .397/.519/.772 with 20 home runs and 78 RBI, according to Baseball-Reference.com.