MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Jason Kubel had his second consecutive four-hit game and the Minnesota Twins cruised to a 9-2 victory against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.
Kubel’s two-run double off Kevin Jepsen (0-2) was the big hit of Minnesota’s five-run fifth. He also scored three runs a night after finishing off his cycle with a go-ahead grand slam in Minnesota’s 11-9 victory.
Delmon Young drove in a season-high three runs for the Twins.
Kevin Slowey (2-0) worked deep in counts for much of his seven innings, but his lone blemish was Torii Hunter’s two-run homer in the second inning.
Darren Oliver made his first start since he was a member of the Houston Astros in 2004. The Angels needed a fifth starter for the first time since pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunken driver on April 9.
Manager Mike Scioscia said before the game Oliver would only throw between 40 and 50 pitches, but he was stretched out to 61 and left the game with a 2-1 lead after stranding a pair of baserunners to end the fourth inning.
Oliver’s performance mirrored that of Los Angeles’ other starters, who entered Saturday’s contest with an American League best 2.78 ERA.
Minnesota once again took advantage of the Angels’ bullpen, which has an 8.19 ERA, second worst in the AL.
After putting up seven runs in the eighth inning on Friday to come back from a five-run deficit, the Twins’ first five batters reached base against Jepson in the fifth with Kubel’s double putting Minnesota ahead 4-2.
Justin Morneau later scored on a wild pitch and Kubel came home on a passed ball after Rafael Rodriguez relieved Jepson.
Minnesota added three more in the sixth inning on an RBI single from Morneau and Young’s two-RBI single off Rich Thompson, who arrived at the Metrodome after the game began following his call up from Triple-A Salt Lake.
Bobby Abreu finished with two hits, a run scored and a stolen base for Los Angeles. Hunter’s home run was his fourth of the season.
Notes: Twins OF Carlos Gomez snapped an 0-for-11 slump with a single in the third inning. … Kubel was in the lineup for the first time this season against a left-handed starting pitcher a night after becoming the third player in the last 100 years to finish a cycle with a grand slam, according to Elias Sports Bureau. His four hits for the second straight game marked the first time a Twins plater had back-to-back four-hit performances since Joe Mauer on June 26 and 27, 2006, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. … Scioscia said he hopes starters John Lackey (forearm) and Ervin Santana (elbow), both on the DL since the start of the season, will begin rehab assignments next week. … Saturday marked just the second time this season an Angels starter failed to pitch into the sixth inning. … Jepson’s ERA ballooned to 19.29 in five appearances this season.
(This version CORRECTS Twins 9, Angels 2; SUBS 3rd graf to REMOVE INcorrect reference to Morneau’s line)
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