Minnesota Finally Wins After Opening With 9 Losses
Byung Ho Park can now celebrate. The wait was a long one but the slugger can now celebrate as he and his Minnesota Twins teammates finally won their first games of the season.
Minnesota became the last MLB team to record a victory this season, after Park’s double drove in the go-ahead run during the eighth inning in Friday’s 5-4 win against the Los Angeles Angels.
Both the Twins and the Atlanta Braves stopped losing streaks of nine games Friday. Atlanta defeated Miami earlier in the evening leaving the Detroit Tigers from 2002 with the unpleasant honor of being the last team to begin their season 0-10 or worse.
The Angles had home runs from Kole Calhoun and Albert Pujols, but had their winning streak of four straight games snapped on the night.
The Twins 5 runs was the first time all season they had scored over three runs in a single game. Minnesota remains last in MLB with only 19 runs scored in 10 games.
Park, a veteran Korean slugger, who at 29 made his debut this season in the major leagues, showed some uncharacteristic emotion after plating a run with a double by letting out a huge scream.
The teams meet again on Saturday. Jared Weaver who is 1-0 with an ERA of 1.50 for the Angels will make just his second start of the young season. In 16 appearances during his career against Minnesota, Weaver is 9-2 with an ERA of 3.22. One of those wins was his May 2012 no-hitter against the Twins.
Minnesota, looking for its second win of the season, will send Ricky Nolasco to the mound. Nolasco is 0-0 with an ERA of 1.29 on the season. He pitched a superb first game allowing just one run while scattering three hits during seven innings pitched.
C.J. Wilson an Angels left-hander is out with a sore left shoulder, while Andrew Heaney is out with a flexor muscle problem. Both pitchers have yet to progress enough to be cleared to throw off the mound.
Byron Buxton a center fielder for Minnesota remains not able to hit with a bruised hand but played defensively during the ninth inning.
