ANGELS WASTE LEAD 5-0 ADVANTAGE NOT ENOUGH AS TWINS WIN IN 10TH MINNESOTA 7, ANGELS 6.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

MINNEAPOLIS - Their game against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night won't end up on the club's season-highlight package, but the Angels might have trouble erasing it from their memory banks.

The Angels seemed to get a break when Twins starter Brad Radke aggravated a groin injury and had to leave two batters into the game. They built a 5-0 lead and seemed in position to continue their roll against American League Central teams.

But the Twins rallied to tie the game in the eighth inning and won it 7-6 in the 10th on Cristian Guzman's sacrifice fly off Lou Pote before 14,521 at the Metrodome. On the play, the Angels had only two outfielders, having moved center fielder Darin Erstad to first base to form a five-man infield.

It's something Angels manager Mike Scioscia has used before in similar situations, and it nearly worked Thursday. The Twins had runners on first and third with one out when Erstad was brought in, and the next batter up, Denny Hocking, grounded out to Erstad at first.

With two out, the Twins had runners on second and third, but Scioscia decided against walking Guzman intentionally to load the bases and create a force at any base.

``It was pick your poison,'' Scioscia said, noting that Doug Mientkiewicz was on deck. ``The matchups behind Guzman were just as tough. You load the bases and it puts pressure on Lou. You pitch to Guzman and it gives Lou the freedom to make some pitches.''

Guzman, though, swung and hit the first pitch, sending the Angels to their second loss in three games on the trip.

The game included a foul ball by Tim Salmon that hit a speaker high above the Angels dugout. But pitcher Eddie Guardado alertly spotted the ball and made a diving catch in foul territory to record the out.

``We've had it happen to us here before, and it won't be the last time,'' Scioscia said. ``The ball Mo (Vaughn) hit a couple years ago would still be going. But it hit a speaker and fell in for a single.''

There were also balls that should have been caught that weren't, like the one Erstad overran in the fourth inning. Instead of making the catch for the third out, Erstad missed Brian Buchanan's jam shot to shallow center and it became a two-run triple.

``I just missed it,'' Erstad said, noting that the Twins remind him a lot of the Angels. ``They scratch and claw and never give up. They have a great bunch of players over there. They battle like we do. That's why it's always a dogfight when we play these guys.''

Things went well for the Angels early, as they built a 5-0 lead by the third inning. In the first, Erstad hit his fourth homer of the year, a 427-foot solo blast to the upper deck in right field.

In the second inning, Adam Kennedy led off with a double, the first of his four hits in the game. He went to third on Jorge Fabregas' grounder to first and scored on a grounder to short by Jose Nieves.