It must be Christmas in Los Angeles. As the Los Angeles Angels’ fans set a Guinness World Record for the most people in one place wearing Santa hats, their team extended its winning streak to five with a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Angels’ starter Garrett Richards picked up his eighth victory of the season as he went 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. Twice he worked himself out of a jam and forced the Twins to leave two runners stranded, according to The Associated Press.
He surrendered a home run to right fielder Oswaldo Arcia in the second inning, which put the Twins up 1-0.
The Los Angeles offense came alive in the second. Third baseman Grant Green knotted the game at one with a sacrifice fly. Right fielder Kole Calhoun smacked a double to right that scored two runs.
“You get some guys in scoring position; it’s easy to swing as a team,” Calhoun said after the game on MLB.com. “That’s what we’ve been doing well lately.”
In the third, the Angels added to their lead with two more runs. Shortstop Erick Aybar hit a sacrifice fly, and second baseman Howie Kendrick followed with an RBI single.
The score remained 5-1 until to the top of the eighth, when Minnesota designated hitter Kendrys Morales smacked an RBI single to center that scored first baseman Joe Mauer.
In the bottom of the inning, the Angels answered with an RBI single by designated hitter C.J. Cron.
Twins’ starter Yohan Pino suffered the loss, lasting only three innings and giving up five runs.
The teams finish up the three-game set on Thursday afternoon.