MINNEAPOLIS _ The first sign of trouble came early on Monday. After getting two outs in the first, Jose Berrios issued consecutive walks to Shohei Ohtani and Andrelton Simmons. Berrios walked more batters in one inning than he had in six starts this season.
The struggles were real later on, as Berrios left too many pitches over the plate and paid the price in a 5-4 loss to the Angels in the first game of a three game series at Target Field.
In 5 2/3 innings _ his shortest outing of the season _ Berrios gave up five earned runs on a career-high 12 hits and three walks while striking out just three batters. Ohtani and Tommy La Stella crushed home runs off of him as the Angels shook off a 5-1 loss at Baltimore on Sunday.
The Twins got home runs by Jorge Polanco and Marwin Gonzalez but went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, twice getting two men on to start an inning and failing to get them home.
When Berrios wasn't missing the plate, he was getting too much of it. Polanco gave him a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run homer to left field but it didn't last for long.
La Stella led off the third with a single then scored when Gonzalez misplayed Mike Trout's single to right field into a two-base error. The ball appeared to take an unanticipated bounce as Gonzalez closed in on the ball, then it rolled toward the right field wall.
With Trout on third, Berrios threw a center-cut fastball to Ohtani, who rocketed it into the bullpens for a two-run home run. Twins players have seen Ohtani's power before, as he homered off of Trevor Hildenberger last season during a series in Anaheim. But Target Field fans on Monday saw in person how the 2018 American League rookie of the year can punish a fastball laid over the plate.
The Angels took a 4-2 in the fifth on an Albert Pujols chop single past the shift that scored Simmons. But Gonzalez atoned for his mistake with a two-run homer to left off Tyler Skaggs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 4.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli sent Berrios out for the sixth, probably looking for one more inning out of him. Berrios got two quick outs, but he hung a 1-0 curveball to La Stella, who blasted a home run to left to give Los Angeles a 5-4 lead. La Stella has hit 10 of his 20 career home runs this season, but his blast on Monday was his first opposite field home run in 432 major league games.
A single and another walk later, and Berrios was done.
The 12 hits he allowed Monday were a season high _ well past his previous high of nine and well above his season average of 6.9 hits per nine innings.
He had walked eight batters all season entering Monday, but walked three Angels.
He had given up one home run over his three previous starts but gave up two on Monday.
At 6-2, Berrios is off to a strong start. He just threw too many hittable pitches to the Angels.
