But Detmers, who entered the game with a 5.87 ERA, did not allow another run, becoming the sixth consecutive lefthander to start a victory against the Twins.
Minnesota’s starter, the rookie Festa, is on a different type of streak. The righthander absorbed his fourth consecutive loss, and got into trouble right from the start. Festa walked the first batter he faced, Taylor Ward, then gave up a ground-rule double to Zach Neto that bounced into the Angels’ bullpen. His next pitch, a belt-high fastball to lefthanded Nolan Schanuel, was lined to left field, scoring both runners.
A double play ended that threat, and Festa didn’t allow another hit until the third inning. But a two-out walk to Schanuel turned into a run when, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, .165-hitting Brandon Drury launched a 459-foot blast into the upper deck in left-center, his fourth homer of the season.
Festa wound up allowing four hits in four innings, three of them for extra bases.
Ronny Henriquez relieved Festa and also gave up a pair of two-out runs on a home run by an anemic-hitting Angel. Niko Kavadas, only 5-for-47 (.106) entering the game, clanged a slider from Henriquez off the advertising sign beyond the flower beds atop the right-field wall, his third home run of the year.
The Twins, meanwhile, were hitless in the final three innings against reliever José Suarez. So no, Baldelli’s pregame hopes were not answered.