This is a 10* on LAA

One swing of the bat altered last night’s Angels-Twins game in a major way. It was a three-run homer by Jack Mayfield that gave the road team a 3-2 win Thursday. Andrew Heaney also retired the last 11 batters he saw in his longest start of the season. It’s tough times right now in Minnesota as they just traded away Nelson Cruz. That move signified the Twins are basically throwing in the towel on 2021. They’ve been one of baseball’s biggest disappointments and that’s reflected by the fact they are down 26.2 units, second worst out of all 30 teams. Friday’s pitching matchup heavily favors the Angels as they’ve got Alex Cobb starting. He is 2-0 with 0.92 ERA in three starts this month and has allowed one or no earned runs in four of his last five starts. Minnesota’s J.A. Happ just got rocked in Detroit where he surrendered seven runs and 11 hits. That was the third time in the last six starts he allowed six or more runs and the second time in the last three. Happ has given up at least one home run in nine straight starts with multiple HR’s allowed five times. He has a 5.14 ERA in nine previous starts vs. the Angels. Shohei Ohtani, possibly feeling the effects of the All Star festivities, is just 4 for his last 24. Don’t be surprised if he has a big day at the plate tonight. Play on LA ANGELS

AAA