If this was Jose Berrios' final start with the Twins, if the two-time All-Star is wearing another uniform next weekend, bear in mind that he was outpitched on Saturday, that he was charged with the loss.
Will that make his departure sting any less? Nah, didn't think so.
Patrick Sandoval dominated the Twins on Saturday, coming within two outs of becoming the first pitcher ever to pitch a no-hitter against the Twins in Minnesota, and the Angels turned two unearned runs against the razor-sharp Berrios into a memorable 2-1 victory at Target Field.
"One of the best starts I've seen in a long time. He was in control of everything that he did tonight," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Sandoval, who walked one batter, hit a couple more, and watched Miguel Sano reach on a throwing error by shortstop Jose Iglesias. But he also struck out 13 Twins with a mix of pitches that included changeups, sliders, curveballs and only infrequent appearances by his fastball.
Brent Rooker, batting .083 and without a major league hit since April 26, sliced a first-pitch slider down the right-field line with one out in the ninth, a double that drew loud cheers from the announced 22,240 in attendance and ended Sandoval's bid to become the sixth pitcher (and third Angel, after Nolan Ryan in 1974 and Jered Weaver in 2012) to no-hit the Twins.
"When I saw the pitch, I thought he had finally hung a changeup. Turned out to be a slider, kind of came in on my hands," Rooker said of his opposite-field hit, only the third ball driven out of the infield by the Twins. "I was able to put the oop-sie swing on it and get a lucky hit."
Luck or not, it nearly sparked a winning rally. Josh Donaldson drove Rooker home with a two-out double into the left-field corner off Angels closer Raisel Iglesias, but Sano swung at a 3-2 changeup below the strike zone to end the game.
"It was probably one of the worst [sliders] I threw all day. It just spun up there. He didn't put that good of a swing on it," Sandoval said of the pitch that Rooker hit. "Guys in the dugout were saying it didn't look like he knew where it went."