Angels come up big late for 8-5 win over Twins

KEY MOMENT: The Angels were hitless against starter Phil Hughes in the fourth through seventh innings, but Albert Pujols greeted reliever Casey Fien with a leadoff single in the eighth, and Howie Kendrick hit a run-scoring triple off the center-field wall to trim Minnesota’s lead to 5-4. Erick Aybar followed with a sacrifice.

AT THE PLATE: Kole Calhoun singled and scored on Kendrick’s two-out double to right in the first, and David Freese doubled and scored on C.J. Cron’s two-out single for a 2-0 lead in the second. Eduardo Escobar tied it with a two-run home run to right in the second. Pujols hit a towering home run to left in the third, but Chris Parmelee tied it with a home run to right in the the third, and Aaron Hicks’ two-out, two-run single against Yoslan Herrera in the fourth put the Twins up, 5-3.

ON THE MOUND: With the score tied, 5-5, setup man Joe Smith pitched around Joe Mauer’s leadoff double in the eighth, striking out Kennys Vargas, getting Trevor Plouffe to ground to shortstop and, after an intentional walk to Oswaldo Arcia, retiring Kurt Suzuki on a fielder’s choice grounder. Huston Street gave up two one-out singles in the ninth before notching the save. Cam Bedrosian did not give up a hit in two scoreless innings, and Wade LeBlanc retired the side in order in the seventh.

REHAB REPORT: Reliever Joe Thatcher (left ankle sprain) gave up two earned runs and two hits in one inning for double-A Arkansas in a playoff game against Tulsa. Manager Mike Scioscia said the length of the left-hander’s rehab stint will depend on his stuff and how Thatcher feels. “It might be two or three, it might be one,” he said. “We’ll see.” … Left fielder Josh Hamilton, who took a cortisone shot in the back of his right shoulder Thursday night, took dry swings Saturday but sat out his second game in a row. He is day to day.

POSSIBLE PROMOTION: General Manager Jerry Dipoto said Hal Morris, the Angels’ director of pro scouting for three years, will interview for the Arizona GM job that opened when Kevin Towers was fired Friday in the midst of a third straight subpar season. “Hal is often the smartest guy in the room, and you’d never know it,” Dipoto said of Morris, who played 13 years in the majors.

TURNING JAPANESE: Morris is in Japan, and among the players he is scouting is Kenta Maeda, a 25-year-old right-hander who might be posted by the Hiroshima Carp next off-season. The 6-foot, 160-pound Maeda, who has a 2.86 earned-run average, 121 strikeouts and 37 walks in 148 innings, projects as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, not an ace like Yu Darvish or Masahiro Tanaka.

UP NEXT: Left-hander C.J. Wilson (10-9, 4.66 ERA) will oppose Minnesota left-hander Logan Darnell (0-1, 8.25) on Sunday at 11 a.m. PDT at Target Field. On the air: TV: FS West. Radio: 830, 1330.

—Mike DiGiovanna