Bats and bullpen falter in Angels’ 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Twins

There are conventional no-hitters and combined no-hitters, and then there are what the Angels experienced Sunday afternoon into the evening at Target Field: hidden no-hitters.

From the fourth inning until the 12th, 10 Angels combined to go 0 for 27 against a medley of six Minnesota pitchers, forcing their own bullpen’s eventual depletion in a third consecutive defeat to the Twins.

This time, the Angels lost, 3-2, in those 12 innings, after Cory Rasmus issued a leadoff walk and Huston Street, their closer and the bullpen’s last man standing, gave up a walk-off single to Oswaldo Arcia.

“After the fourth inning, we didn’t pressure those guys at all,” Manager Mike Scioscia said.

The closest they came was in the eighth, when Albert Pujols nearly powered a ball out to left center. In the first inning, Pujols provided the Angels’ only offense, homering to the second deck in left field after Yunel Escobar walked to the lead off the game.

Mike Trout doubled in the third inning, Andrelton Simmons singled in the fourth, and the day’s worth of production was done. The Twins had not won a game before the Angels came to town, and the Angels did not trail when the eighth inning began throughout the series. Their bullpen bore the loss each time.

“We play six months. Don’t tell me I’m the greatest after one month,” Street said. “But also don’t tell me I’m the worst.”

As he ran to back up home plate in the seventh inning, reliever Jose Alvarez blanketed his mouth with his glove. The left-hander had entered to a situation remarkably similar to the one he faced Friday night. The once-great Joe Mauer stood at the plate, Eduardo Nunez a few feet off second, with the Angels up by one run, needing one more out to get out of the seventh inning.

Like Friday, Alvarez had Mauer down to his last strike. Like Friday, he left a pitch over the plate. Like Friday, Mauer swung smoothly and placed the ball through a hole to left field. Like Friday, Nunez’s helmet flew off before he touched third base.

But, unlike Friday, the ball was hit with a bit more pace, and rookie left fielder Rafael Ortega, not veteran Craig Gentry, picked it up and quickly fired a one-hop, 94.3-mph throw home. Carlos Perez applied the tag south of the base and Nunez was out.

“That was huge,” Scioscia said, “at the time.”

It mattered little because only one of the 16 Angels hitters who followed reached base.

After Greg Mahle, Mike Morin and Alvarez worked through the seventh, Joe Smith came in for the eighth, and, for the second straight day, gave up back-to-back hits. These were singles, though — not the homers of Saturday. He induced consecutive groundouts to follow, but, with the Angels’ infielders positioned at double-play depth, the first one traveled far enough to bring a run.

Smith stayed in for the ninth and yielded a first-pitch single. The Twins then bunted. C.J. Cron picked it up quickly and tagged the bunter while Andrelton Simmons slammed his glove on second base in anger. He wanted Cron to try to get the lead runner.

It would not matter, because Simmons soon scooped up a ball Mauer ripped to him to end the inning. Three innings later, Simmons got what he wanted when Byron Buxton bunted in a similar situation and Cron threw to second. The Twins also threatened to score in the 10th inning, when Byung-Ho Park launched a fly far and high up, but 10 feet short of the center-field wall.

Nick Tropeano was the Angels’ starting pitcher. He lasted 5 2/3 effective innings, and, in two starts, has now yielded just one run. He has struck out nine, and he has walked four. He was not on the team’s opening-day roster, but he has been the best starter, and he figures to remain in the rotation for several weeks — a thought he did not want to entertain on a somber Sunday evening in Target Field’s visiting clubhouse.

“I’m here now,” he said.

pedro.moura@latimes.com

Follow Pedro Moura on Twitter: @PedroMoura