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Angels need, and get, a little extra to beat Twins in 10 innings, 7-6

Hank Conger congratulates Kole Calhoun after scoring the go-ahead run in the 10th inning to give the Angels a 7-6 win Friday over the Minnesota Twins.
(Hannah Foslien / Getty Images)
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The Angels didn’t so much beat the Minnesota Twins Friday night as they did outlast them.

In a game that featured 17 pitchers, 39 baserunners and took 4 hours and 30 minutes to complete, Kevin Jepsen was the last man standing, the Angels reliever retiring the side in order in the 10th inning to preserve a grueling 7-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins in Target Field.

“Every time we scored, they were coming right back and answering,” said leadoff batter Kole Calhoun, who entered in a three-for-29 skid but had his fingerprints all over the win, with three hits, four runs, two runs batted in and a stolen base.

“It was tough. It was nice to squeak this one out. When we get down the stretch, it’s going to come down to the little things that win ballgames. We’re bunting guys over, stealing bases. Those were the difference-makers in these two games.”

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Mike Trout also drove in two runs to become the youngest Angel (age 22 season) with 100 RBIs in the season, and the Angels survived a rare ninth-inning meltdown by closer Huston Street to open a six-game lead over Oakland in the American League West.

Calhoun sparked the winning rally in the 10th with a single to center. He stole second and, after an intentional walk to Albert Pujols and a walk to Howie Kendrick to load the bases, scored on Erick Aybar’s sacrifice fly to medium right for a 7-6 lead.

“We had a lot of confidence Erick was going to put the ball in play, and he did,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “Kole got a great read, a great jump, and just beat the throw.”

The Angels erased a 4-3 deficit with three runs in the eighth, Calhoun lining a two-run double to left-center off left-hander Brian Duensing for a 5-4 lead and Trout hitting an RBI double to right-center to make it 6-4. The rally started with a Brennan Boesch single, a Chris Iannetta walk and a John McDonald sacrifice bunt.

Joe Smith retired the side in order in the eighth, but Street gave up a leadoff single to Danny Santana and walked Brian Dozier to open the ninth, leaving the right-hander with the same two-on, no-outs jam he escaped Thursday night.

Street got Joe Mauer and Kennys Vargas to fly to left, but Trevor Plouffe ripped a score-tying two-run double to left-center just beyond the reach of Trout, who leaped at and crashed into the wall.

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Street, who suffered his second blown save in 14 opportunities with the Angels, got Josmil Pinto to ground out to short to send the game into extra innings.

Before the game, General Manager Jerry Dipoto revealed that Owner Arte Moreno exercised the 2015 club option on his contract in July, ensuring that Dipoto would return for a fourth season.

Dipoto signed a three-year deal with two club options before the 2012 season, but no action has been taken on the 2016 option. Moreno’s decision to pick up the 2015 option is a reflection of the team’s transformation from underachiever in 2013 to World Series contender in 2014.

“The job we’ve done to this point is probably why this is even a possibility,” Dipoto, 46, said. “This business generally takes care of itself, and that’s kind of what’s happened. I’m very happy to get the opportunity to move forward for another year.”

There was heavy speculation toward the end of the 2012 and 2013 seasons that Dipoto or Manager Mike Scioscia—or both—would be fired, in part because of he team’s disappointing play on the field, and in part because of reports of a rift between the two, which Scioscia went to great lengths to deny.

But the fact that Moreno sat Scioscia and Dipoto down for several lengthy meetings after last season’s 78-84 finish—the fourth straight year the Angels missed the playoffs despite having one of baseball’s highest payrolls—was an indication there were at least some differences the two needed to work through.

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“There’s no doubt we’ve all become a better team in terms of how we work with the front office, and we have to continue to grow,” Scioscia said. “I know from a philosophical position and some of the concepts that are really important to be on the same page with, we’ve put in a lot of time on some things.”

Most of Dipoto’s 2013 acquisitions—Josh Hamilton, Joe Blanton, Tommy Hanson, Sean Burnett, Ryan Madson—backfired.

But Dipoto did an excellent job of upgrading the pitching staff this season, with the winter acquisitions of Hector Santiago, Tyler Skaggs and Joe Smith and mid-season trades for Huston Street and Jason Grilli.

“The turnaround we’ve had this year is good, and that’s a tribute to the players on the field,” Dipoto said. “You don’t do that without good players. This team has played so well to this point, but we have a lot to do this season.”

Follow Mike DiGiovanna on Twitter @MikeDiGiovanna

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