Power-packed 10th lifts Twins past Angels

ANAHEIM -- It wasn't a bad night for Chris Herrmann, especially considering he wasn't even expected to play on Tuesday.

Herrmann, who was a late substitute at catcher with Joe Mauer leaving the team just about an hour before the game to attend the birth of his twins, made the most of his opportunity.

Ryan Doumit drove home the go-ahead run on an RBI double in the 10th inning and Herrmann added his first career grand slam after Glen Perkins blew just his third save of the year in the ninth to lead the Twins to a 10-3 win over the Angels at Angel Stadium.

Herrmann's grand slam essentially put the game out of reach for the Angels and was the first grand slam for the Twins this season.

"I wasn't even supposed to play tonight," said Herrmann, who went 3-for-5. "So I'm just fortunate I was able to help out the team with my first professional grand slam, let alone my first big league grand slam. So it's just pretty awesome to cherish this moment. I can't believe it's happening."

Doumit, who also laced a go-ahead RBI double in the eighth, was at it again in the 10th with a double off Angels closer Ernesto Frieri to score Jamey Carroll, who singled and reached second on a single from Justin Morneau. The Angels intentionally walked Clete Thomas with one out to get to Herrmann, who blasted a grand slam over the right-field fence. To add even more insurance, Pedro Florimon launched a two-run homer off Billy Buckner.

It helped the Twins to their sixth victory over their last seven games and they've now won three series in a row.

"It's great," Doumit said. "We're playing great baseball. This is the kind of offensive output we know we're capable of, but we haven't seen in a while. We could've rolled over once they scored over in the ninth."

It made a winner out of Perkins despite the fact that he couldn't hold the lead in the ninth just one night after picking up his first four-out save of the year. Perkins walked Alberto Callaspo to lead off the inning -- the first walk he's issued since June 27 -- before giving up a double to Mark Trumbo with nobody out. He was able to get Chris Iannetta to ground out, but then walked Collin Cowgill to load the bases.

Perkins then walked Erick Aybar to tie the game to mark the first time he walked three batters in a game since May 29, 2012. It was also just his third blown save in 27 chances and broke a streak of 19 1/3 scoreless innings, but he was able to get out of the frame by getting J.B. Shuck to ground into a double play.

"Perkins had a rough time and walking the leadoff guy will always get you in a little trouble," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But he was still pumping it 96 mph and we had a big double play to keep it tied."

It spoiled a go-ahead RBI double from Doumit in the eighth inning. His drive to deep right-center field off reliever Kevin Jepsen scored Morneau all the way from first base, as the throw home beat Morneau by several feet, but he was able to slide past Angels catcher Hank Conger to score.

Kyle Gibson, making just his fifth career start, pitched well, but did not factor into the decision. The right-hander went six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

Both runs he allowed came on homers in the fourth inning, as Albert Pujols started it off with a leadoff blast just out of the reach of a leaping Aaron Hicks in center field. Just three batters later, Trumbo connected on an opposite-field shot for his team-leading 22nd homer.

"It feels pretty good to be able to settle down after that," Gibson said. "Pujols hit a good pitch but on both batters I fell behind the count."

It came after the Twins got out to an early lead with a run against Angels right-hander Tommy Hanson in the third. Florimon led off the inning with a double and came around to score on an RBI single from Brian Dozier. But it was all Minnesota could muster against Hanson, who gave up just that one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts.

"That's the best stuff I've seen Tommy have, definitely since he's been here," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

The Twins, though, tied it up with a run in the seventh on an RBI groundout from Florimon with reliever Dane De La Rosa on the mound for the Angels.

It was just the start of an impressive showing against the Angels bullpen, which gave up nine runs over the final four innings.

"It was a fun night," Gardenhire said. "Some good things happened. The boys, I'm really happy with them. They're really playing and getting after the game pretty hard right now."