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Minnesota Twins continue road warrior ways with 3-2 victory over Los Angeles Angels

By Bob Keisser, The Sports Xchange
Jason Castro homered as the Twins continued winning on the road with a 3-2 victory over the Angels. Photo courtesy Minnesota Twins/Twitter
Jason Castro homered as the Twins continued winning on the road with a 3-2 victory over the Angels. Photo courtesy Minnesota Twins/Twitter

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The best part of Sunday for the Minnesota Twins was the chance to once again put on their slippers and enjoy another win in an opponent's living room, this time 3-2 over the Los Angeles Angels.

The second best was knowing that they will continue to make like Jack Kerouac and stay on the road, with dates this week at Seattle and San Francisco. The Sunday win leaves the Twins 17-6 on the road in 2017, second only to the Houston Astros' 21-6 road mark.

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Jason Castro and Miguel Sano hit home runs off Angels starter Ricky Nolasco (2-6), who is among the major league leaders in home runs allowed this season. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Twins right-hander Jose Berrios (4-1) allowed two runs in six innings.

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"This whole road thing is difficult to surmise," Twins manager and Hall of Famer Paul Molitor said. "It's a flip of what you usually expect, to win more at home.

"I don't want to overthink it. I think there's a tendency for this team to ... have a different feeling on the road. But it's not like we haven't played well at home. There were a lot of games where we didn't close a game out or make close plays."

The Twins are enjoying the clubhouse atmosphere wherever they are. Minnesota is playing good defense -- turning three double plays Sunday -- and getting timely hitting and pitching.

Berrios' fourth win wasn't as dominating as some of his others in his breakout season, but perhaps it was more impressive in the way he worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth.

"I felt confident in that situation," Berrios said. "The hits they got in the inning weren't that hard. I didn't look at it as a situation where I had to strike three guys out."

Berrios struck out one and got a double-play grounder to end the inning.

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"The sign of improvement for a young guy like Jose is how well he pitches when he doesn't have his best stuff," Molitor said.

Berrios wound up allowing six hits and two walks while striking out four.

Meanwhile, the Angels took their eighth loss in 12 games, and for the 31st time this season, they scored three runs or fewer. Los Angeles is 6-25 in those contests.

The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the third on Castro's home run to right field off Nolasco, the catcher's fifth of the season. Castro extended his hitting streak to eight games.

The Angels got the run back in the bottom of the third, on a hit batter, a single by Juan Graterol and a double play. Los Angeles added a run in the fourth but blew a chance to turn it into a bigger inning.

Luis Valbuena doubled and C.J. Cron and Ben Revere singled to take a 2-1 lead. Berrios then walked Cliff Pennington to load the bases with no outs, but he struck out Eric Young Jr. and induced Graterol to hit into an inning-ending double play.

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Nolasco's home run issue struck again in sixth and knocked him out of the game. The right-hander hit Robbie Grossman, and two batters later, Sano clubbed a homer into the bullpen in left field for a 3-2 lead.

"He battled like he always does," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of Nolasco. "He left a breaking ball up for Castro, and Sano hit a fastball in the heart of the plate."

It doesn't help Nolasco that his team has rarely given him any runs to work with. In his 12 starts, the Angels have scored just 21 runs while he was in the game, including 10 times when they scored two runs or fewer for him.

Sano now has 43 RBI to go with 15 home runs, which has him well on his way to surpassing his career-high 25 home runs and 66 RBI he had last season.

NOTES: Angels RF Kole Calhoun had a single and two walks Sunday and is 6-for-17 in his past four games. ... Los Angeles RHP Cam Bedrosian (groin) allowed two runs Friday and struck out two in an inning Sunday at Class A Inland Empire in what could be his last rehab appearances before being activated from the disabled list. ... Los Angeles RHP Brooks Pounders was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, taking the place of RHP Damien Magnifico, who was optioned to Salt Lake. ... Twins RHP Ervin Santana had his worst outing of the season Saturday night, allowing three home runs, including Pujols' 600th of his career. He came in with the second-best ERA in baseball (1.75) and the best marks in opponents' average and WHIP. ... Twins CF Byron Buxton did not start as he continues to struggle at the plate. Buxton, who is hitting .193 with 59 strikeouts in 150 at-bats, entered as a defensive replacement.

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