Wade Meckler singled to drive in Zach Neto with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Los Angeles Angels rallied to defeat the Minnesota Twins 5-4 on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series in Anaheim, Calif.
Meckler lined the first pitch by Twins reliever Kody Funderburk through a drawn-in infield and into right field for his first career walk-off hit. Los Angeles tied it one batter earlier on an RBI single by Mike Trout off Yoendrys Gomez (2-4).
Oswald Peraza and Meckler each had two hits and an RBI for the Angels (59-94), who won for the third time in the past four games. Blake Weiman (1-1) allowed one unearned run in one inning but picked up his first major league win.
Minnesota’s Walker Jenkins ended a 1-for-34 slump with three hits, including a two-run game-tying home run in the ninth. Brooks Lee had two hits and two RBIs and Ben Ross doubled and scored a run for the Twins (71-82), who have lost four out of five.
Gomez was charged with two runs, one earned, in one-third of an inning. Funderburk’s outing lasted just one pitch.
Los Angeles got four hits in the first inning while taking a 3-0 lead. Moises Ballesteros, Denzer Guzman and Peraza each contributed an RBI single.
Minnesota cut the lead to 3-1 in the eighth inning on Lee’s sacrifice fly.
The Twins then tied it with two outs in the top of the ninth on a two-run homer by Jenkins on a fastball from Ben Joyce, driving in Victor Caratini, who had singled. The 394-foot drive to center went just over the glove of center fielder Jose Siri.
Minnesota took its first lead, 4-3, in the 10th when Luke Keaschall led off with a single, sending automatic runner Ross to third. Lee then singled to drive in Ross. The Twins later loaded the bases, but Weiman struck out Royce Lewis to end the threat.
The Angels wasted a quality start by rookie Walbert Urena, who fired seven shutout innings. He allowed four hits and no walks while striking out a career-high nine batters.
Twins starter Taj Bradley allowed three runs on five hits over seven innings. He walked one and struck out nine.