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Span plates run in 12th to push Twins past Angels

Aug 22, 2008 - 6:23 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Denard Span plated the go-ahead run in the 12th inning on Thursday, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Nick Punto led off the 12th with a fly ball to deep center field. Former Twins center fielder Torii Hunter had it in his sights and jumped to make the catch against the wall, but the ball deflected off the seven-time Gold Glove Award winner's glove, allowing Punto to reach third base.

Justin Speier (1-7) struck out Carlos Gomez, but after getting the count to 1-2 on Span, the 24-year-old ripped a single down the third base line past a diving Chone Figgins.

"After getting two strikes on me, I just thought to myself to make contact and find a hole," Span said. "I made good contact and got it past Figgy, which is a hard thing to do."

Jesse Crain (5-2) pitched a perfect 11th to notch the win and Joe Nathan retired the side in order in the 12th for his 35th save.

"This was a really nice start to the road trip," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We got big performances from the bullpen and (Scott) Baker. Baker was really, really good against Mr. (John) Lackey."

The Twins struggled to mount any offense against Lackey early but broke through in the fifth.

Lackey struck out the first two batters of the inning before surrendering a double by Punto. Gomez followed with a two-base hit of his own to tie the contest at 1-1.

"I felt good all night out there," Lackey said. "I made some bad fielding plays but managed to keep them off the board. Wish we could've pulled this one out."

That was the only run the Twins got off Lackey, who allowed five hits in eight innings with two walks and six strikeouts. The 29-year-old righthander has not lost in eight starts dating to July 5.

"John managed to pitch a good game after pitching himself out of tough spots," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He didn't have his best stuff out there, but it was enough to keep us in the game and give us a shot to win."

Mark Teixeira wasted no time giving Lackey a lead in the first inning, belting a solo home run - his fifth since being acquired from the Atlanta Braves on July 29.

However, Baker shut down the Angels after the blast, yielding only the one run, four hits and two walks while striking out six in eight innings.

"Lackey is tough to go against, but I'm just happy that we won the game. It was a huge win," Baker said. "When you are in the pennant race, every game is big."

Minnesota (73-54) pulled within one-half game of the idle Chicago White Sox (73-53) for first place in the American League Central with the victory.

With the strong outing, Baker ended a dismal stretch against both Anaheim and the rest of the league. The 26-year-old righthander entered Thursday with a 6.08 ERA over his last four starts overall and had been 0-4 with a 7.36 ERA in five career outings against the Angels.

"I had some mechanical adjustments to make, and they worked for me tonight," Baker said. "I made good pitches and had some bad pitches that hurt me, but overall, I felt like I pitched really good."