The Minnesota Twins secured a commanding 11-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night at Target Field. Trevor Larnach and Byron Buxton each delivered key home runs to power the offense. The win marked Minnesota’s third in four games and continued the Angels’ recent skid, with the team now dropping three of their last four.
Twins starter Pablo López returned from a hamstring strain to make his first appearance since April 8, delivering a solid outing. López allowed two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two across five innings. He was credited with the win, improving to 2-1 on the season.
The Angels sent veteran Kyle Hendricks to the mound, but the right-hander struggled with control issues throughout his start. Hendricks (0-3) lasted just over three innings, surrendering seven runs on three hits while walking five, hitting two batters, and striking out three. His outing contributed to a challenging night for the Angels’ pitching staff, which could not contain Minnesota’s offense.
The Twins opened the scoring in the first inning without recording a hit. Hendricks hit a batter and issued two walks to load the bases before Carlos Correa drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. The Angels responded in the second with an RBI single from Jo Adell to tie the game at one briefly.
Buxton gave the Twins the lead again with a solo home run in the third, a towering shot to the second deck in left field. In the fourth inning, the Twins broke the game open. After Hendricks walked three of the first four batters, reliever Carl Edwards Jr. was summoned but could not halt the damage. Buxton added a sacrifice fly, and Mickey Gasper followed with an RBI single. Larnach then connected on a 0-1 pitch, sending a three-run homer into right-center field to extend the lead to 8-1.
Larnach, who also doubled in the game, finished with four RBIs and now has three home runs and eight RBIs in his last four games. Buxton, who also tripled, added three RBIs of his own, and Gasper chipped in with two hits and two RBIs.
The Angels managed solo home runs from Mike Trout and Logan O’Hoppe later in the game, but their offense was otherwise limited. Minnesota’s bullpen combined to close out the final four innings with minimal damage.
The Twins matched their season high with 13 hits and improved to 14-13 overall. The Angels fell to 9-18 with the loss.
Looking ahead, the Angels will send left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (0-3, 3.38 ERA) to the mound on Saturday, while the Twins will counter with right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (1-2, 4.74 ERA). According to the latest betting odds, the Twins enter the matchup as moderate favorites, listed at -135 on the moneyline, with the over/under for total runs set at 8.5.