Twins’ 22 Hits Stop the Angels, 13-3

No hard feelings, Dave Winfield said. No vindictiveness either. He wanted to make it clear that he enjoyed his time as an Angel.

Monday was simply his night. And it was the first time he hit so well in a long while.

By game’s end, he had hammered the Angels into submission with four hits and two runs batted in during the Minnesota Twins’ 13-3 rout before 18,085 at Anaheim Stadium.

“I was telling the guys in the dugout, ‘I’m in a deep, deep trench, and I’m clawing my way out,’ � Winfield said. “A little later, I said, ‘I can see land, guys.’ �

Winfield erased all signs of a five-for-41 slump and showed his former team why he’s still as valuable as ever as a designated hitter. And just to hammer the point home, he bunted for a base hit and stole a base--each for the first time since last season.

One of the turning points in the Twins’ 22-hit destruction of the Angel pitching staff was Winfield’s two-run single in the midst of a six-run fourth inning that made the game a rout. The bunt and the stolen base came in the sixth and, though they did nothing to help pad Minnesota’s lead, they enhanced a happy homecoming for Winfield, 41, an Angel in 1990 and ’91.

He laughed when asked about the bunt and the steal.

“I get one of those each in a season,� he said. “The guy (third baseman Rene Gonzales) is playing in left field. Put it in play and it’s a base hit.�

Angel Manager Buck Rodgers was as stunned as anyone in Anaheim Stadium to see Winfield bunting with the Twins so far ahead.

“I was surprised to see that,� he said. “I’ve never seen him bunt with two outs. He had some incentive coming in here. He’s a professional, and he always plays hard.�

Of his steal of second, Winfield said: “The manager says go, you go.�

Next time up, reliever Chuck Crim almost hit Winfield with a pitch that got away. No malice intended, according to Winfield.

“Around here, you have to keep scoring runs,� Winfield said. “We’ve been giving up a lot of runs.�

Indeed, the Twins went into the game with a 5.46 earned-run average, worst in the American League.

“Just a close pitch,� he said. “A wake-up pitch, but sometimes you need a wake-up pitch.�

A couple of pitches later, Winfield slammed a Crim delivery barely foul, missing a home run by mere feet. Finally, he hit a hard single to left. He came up in the ninth with a chance at going five for five, but flied out.

“He hasn’t had much luck this year,� Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly said. “But balls fell in for him today. He has hit the ball hard. He could easily be hitting .260 or .280.�

Winfield’s hitting overshadowed Shane Mack, a former UCLA standout who also had four hits, including a two-run homer in the seventh. Mike Pagliarulo had three hits, including a three-run homer in the eighth.

It was a forgettable night for the Angels, who suffered their worst loss of the season. They hadn’t given up more than six runs in a game, but allowed that many in the fourth. Minnesota’s 22 hits were four shy of the most the Angels have allowed. The club record of 26 was set in 1980 against Baltimore.

“We got outhit, outpitched and outfielded,� Rodgers said. “I never thought we could go the whole season without playing a bad game. If we get a game like this in every 28 or 29 games, that’s not too bad.�

Bad was about the best word to describe the loss, however.

Starter John Farrell (2-4) couldn’t make it out of the fourth, giving up six runs and 11 hits in his worst performance of the season.

Things turned ugly after Farrell retired Pedro Munoz and Mack on groundouts to start the fourth.

Pagliarulo singled to center. Pat Meares singled to left. Gene Larkin singled home Pagliarulo. Chuck Knoblauch singled home Meares. Kent Hrbek walked. Winfield followed with a two-run single to left. Brian Harper singled between Farrell’s legs, scoring Hrbek.

And mercifully that was all for Farrell, who yielded to Ken Patterson. Munoz hit Patterson’s first pitch into center field, scoring Winfield. Finally, Mack grounded out to end the inning.

What passed for Angel highlights were three hits by catcher Greg Myers and two each by Torey Lovullo and Chad Curtis.