ANGELS EXTRACT VICTORY IN 12TH BUT THEY FAIL TO GAIN GROUND IN WEST ANGELS 5, MINNESOTA 4.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer ANAHEIM - Nothing is coming easy for the Angels these days, not even victories. After losing the first two games of the series, the Angels found a way to eke one out, beating the Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Twins have played in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. in 12 innings 5-4 on Scott Spiezio's bases-loaded single Thursday night in front of 15,159 at Edison Field. Their reward for a victory? They remained 16 games behind In sports, the phrase games behind, often abbreviated as GB in tables, is a common way to reflect the gap between a leading team and another team in a sports league, conference, or division. the first- place Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Mariners have played in Safeco Field. , who won their eighth in a row. The Angels have picked up ground on the Mariners only once since May 6, and that came on a day - May 22 - when the Angels were rained out and Seattle lost. The past nine Angels victories, including Thursday's, have resulted in no progress in the standings. The best the Angels can hope for, it seems, is to keep pace with Seattle and wait for the Mariners to lose a few games. Until then, they'll have to take whatever they can get, like Thursday's win. Though he was a bit wild, Angels reliever Ben Weber William Jennings Bryan "Ben" Weber (born July 23, 1916 in St. Louis - died June 16, 1979 in New York) was America's first twelve tone composer. Weber, completely self-taught as a composer, was in the late 30s part of a Chicago musical group that included George Perle and (3-0) got the win with three scoreless innings, leaving it to the Angels to finally push across a run in the bottom of the 12th. Tim Salmon The Angels seemed to have the game in hand after a perfect relay play in the eighth inning. With Matt Lawton Lawton was waved around third and tried to score, but the relay - center fielder Darin Erstad to second baseman Adam Kennedy to catcher Shawn Wooten - was on target and Lawton was tagged out. With the second out of the inning secured, the Angels were one out away from handing the ball over to closer Troy Percival, who has been perfect in save situations this season. But Chad Allen had other ideas. Allen jumped on a 3-1 pitch from Angels reliever Al Levine and sent it over the fence in center for a two-run, game-tying homer. The Angels had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the inning Noun 1. bottom of the inning - the second half of an inning; while the home team is at bat bottom inning, frame - (baseball) one of nine divisions of play during which each team has a turn at bat , putting runners on first and second with one out. But Wooten flied to left and Kennedy struck out. The Angels got to Twins starter Brad Thomas early, scoring three first-inning runs. The first two came on Glaus' 14th home run of the season, scoring Erstad ahead of him. Tim Salmon followed with a walk, went to second on a single by Anderson and scored on Benji Gil's double for a 3-0 Angels lead. The Angels wasted a chance for more, though. With runners on second and third and only one out, Glenallen Hill popped to shallow center. Wooten then ended the inning with a flyout to center. The Angels put runners on second and third with two out in the second inning but came up with nothing when Salmon lined to shortstop to end the threat. Salmon's lineout started a string of 10 consecutive batters retired by Thomas, who was making his second career big-league start. CAPTION(S): photo |
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