BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Loss to Twins Seen as a Blip

There were few happy players in the Angels’ clubhouse after Sunday’s 9-8 extra-inning loss to Minnesota, but the Angels want to believe the demons of a 1-8 trip have been exorcised after winning two of three from the Twins.

How can Manager Marcel Lachemann lift his team’s spirits?

“Just remind them that we’re still in first place,” he said, “and that they played well to get there and are capable of playing that well again. We scored quite a few runs this weekend and did a lot of the things we need to do the rest of the way.”

Spike Owen, whose 10th-inning throwing error allowed the Twins to score the winning run Sunday, said the loss hurts, but wasn’t the end of the world.

“This one’s over and we’ve just got to come back and keep playing,” he said.

“What have we got left, 18 games? Now more than ever, we have to take them one at a time. No one ever said it was going to be easy.”