MINNESOTA, Minn., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Troy Percival escaped an eighth-inning jam and capped a tremendous effort by the bullpen Wednesday night as the Anaheim Angels recorded a 6-3 triumph over the Minnesota Twins and evened the American League Championship Series at one game apiece.
After starter Ramon Ortiz (1-0) allowed three runs in 5 1/3 shaky innings, Angels manager Mike Scioscia turned to his vaunted bullpen. Brendan Donnelly got the final two outs in the sixth and fellow rookie Francisco Rodriguez cruised through the seventh before struggling in the eighth.
When Rodriguez allowed a two-out single to Doug Mientkiewicz that brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth, Scioscia went to his closer, who had not allowed an earned run in 33 regular-season appearances against Minnesota.
Percival struck out pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty to end the eighth, then fanned two in the ninth to notch his third postseason save.
Minnesota starter Rick Reed (0-2) was tagged for six runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He was hit hard for the second straight playoff outing and fell to 1-3 in seven career postseason appearances.
The Twins bullpen held Anaheim in check over the final 3 2/3 innings, but the offense was unable to rally.
Brad Fullmer sparked the Angels' offense with a two-run homer off Reed in the sixth. Darin Erstad also homered for Anaheim.
Game 3 will be played Friday night in Anaheim. The Angels will send 18-game winner Jarrod Washburn to the mound against fellow lefthander Eric Milton.
Erstad's homer came with one out in the first and the Angels capitalized on a fielding blunder in the second to create a three-run inning. In the sixth, Glaus tripled with one out and Fullmer followed with a homer to right-center for a 6-0 lead.
"They have a lot of throwers in the bullpen," said Minnesota Manager Ron Gardenhire. "They all have different looks and great sliders.
"That's the first time we've seen the kid (Rodriguez). Wow. The ball was jumping out of his hand.
"I thought we had some good battles. We had some runners on and had some opportunities. We are battling hard and I think we have a pretty good chance as the series goes on."
"It was nice to get some runs early," Scioscia said. "Early runs are important any time, but where we were in the series, it was a key for us.
"It was a challenge to come in here and play, but we have confidence that we can bring our game into any stadium.
"We ran the bases well. They opened the door a little for us and we took advantage of it."
