ANAHEIM, CALIF. – The greatest play of Friday's 10-3 Minnesota Twins loss to the Angels not have even been a play at all.
Justin Upton's seventh-inning grand slam broke the game open for Los Angeles.
But before that, the top of Angels' lineup smacked three consecutive hits in the bottom of the sixth inning off reliever Randy Dobnak to wrestle the lead back from the Twins. With Mike Trout on first and just one batter retired, a pop-up from James' Walsh appeared to be an easy out.
Except instead of gravity guiding the ball easily into the cushion of Josh Donaldson's glove, it bobbled and rolled up his forearm before bouncing to the ground.
The third baseman, though, sold an Oscar-worthy performance, quickly scooping up the ball and throwing to Jorge Polanco at second base.
He almost kept a straight face, too. Just a hint of a smirk and perhaps a small twinkle in his eye as hints to his devious deed.
In the end, it wasn't quite enough, as the Twins dropped their series opener at Angel Stadium.
The Twins are 6-8 on the season, including 1-6 in their last seven. And this time the cold temperatures weren't even to blame, as it was a near-blistering 60 degrees in Southern California.
The seventh-inning stretch in that fresh tropical air apparently wasn't what the Twins needed, as the Angels broke the game open. Second baseman David Fletcher, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, Trout and left fielder Justin Upton ran rampant over Twins pitchers all night, including starter Lewis Thorpe, Dobnak and Caleb Thielbar.
Shortly before Donaldson's trick play, Trout hit a two-RBI single to score Fletcher and Ohtani.
The Twins briefly took the lead at the top of the sixth. Catcher Mitch Garver doubled with his ground ball to left field to score Polanco and right fielder Max Kepler to tie the game, before quick-hands Donaldson hit a sharp ground ball to center field to send Garver home.
Walsh might have fell victim to Donaldson's sleight of hand, but he did get the breakthrough run in the fourth inning. His ground ball to center field scored left fielder Upton.
Thorpe, called up to start the West Coast swing, last four innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking out two. He did field a rare pop-up in foul territory to end Walsh's second-inning at-bat, though. Dobnak, who is also an option at starter but has only pitched in relief so far this season, came in for the next 2.1 innings. He gave up six hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts. In less than an inning, Thielbar gave up three hits and three earned runs, including the two homers.
Angels lefthanded starter Andrew Heany made it through 5 1/3 innings with two hits, two earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts.
