Angels Steal First Two From Twins

The Los Angeles Angels, owners of the worst record in the major leagues, took the first two games of their series from the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Vaughn Grissom homered and drove in two runs in the opener, a 4-3 win that snapped a five-game Angels skid at the ballpark. The Twins, who entered the series playing their best baseball of the summer, now sit at 46-49 and face a series sweep in the finale.

The Angels came in losers of eight of their last 10. None of that mattered for two nights at Target Field. Grissom's homer and two RBIs in the opener snapped a five-game skid at the ballpark and set the tone for the upset.

For Minnesota, the math stings more than the record shows. The Twins were 46-48 and playing their best stretch of the summer when the series started. Two losses later, they've dropped to 46-49, still hovering right around .500 with the second half just getting started.

The finale is no formality now. ESPN Analytics gives the twins a 55.3% win probability to avoid the sweep at Target Field, but the Angels have already banked the moral victory. For a Los Angeles club with the worst record in baseball, stealing a series from a hot team is the kind of result that keeps a lost season from feeling completely dead.