Joe Mauer finished a triple short of the cycle to lead the Twins (5-7) over the Angels (4-9), 8-2 Monday night at Target Field.
Kevin Corriea (1-1) pitched well, but his night didn’t start the way he wanted when he gave up a leadoff homer to Peter Bourjos — a 413 foot shot to left center.
Correia settled down and allowed two runs on eight hits and five strikeouts over seven innings.
Trailing 1-0, Joe Mauer doubled to start a threat in the bottom of the first. He scored on Ryan Doumit’s two-out single right center.
Former Twins infielder Brendan Harris connected for a solo home run off the facing of the upper deck in left to put the Angels back on top, 2-1 in the third.
Again, the Twins responded in the bottom half of the third when Justin Morneau scorched a ball deep to center for an RBI double.
Trevor Plouffe and Mauer then hit solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings, putting the Twins up, 4-2. Mauer’s third hit — an RBI single — gave the Twins a three run lead in the sixth.
Minnesota extended the lead to 7-2 with Pedro Florimon’s two-run double in the eighth. Florimon would score on another single from Mauer, who finished 4-5 with three RBI.
Jared Burton pitched a scoreless eighth and Casey Fien had a 1-2-3 ninth to end the game.
The victory snapped Minnesota’s five-game losing streak.
Note: Oswaldo Arcia singled in his first at-bat of the season after being called up from AAA Rochester. He also dropped a pop fly in left field for an error.
