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 Torii Hunter had another 0-for-4 night for the Angels against his old team, reaching base only when a ninth-inning pitch from Juan Rincon banged off his elbow. It didn't matter. The two guys next to him in the field, and in front of him in the lineup, did plenty of damage.
Stifled by Livan Hernandez in the opener, Los Angeles bounced back with three hard-hit doubles in the first seven at-bats against Boof Bonser. Guerrero and Anderson went back-to-back with theirs for a 2-0 lead in the first.
Mike Napoli and Casey Kotchman each hit solo homers, Guerrero went 3-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs, and Anderson went 3-for-5 and drove in two.
The real star, arguably, was Garland, who went eight innings and gave up just six hits and one walk. His acquisition in a trade with the Chicago White Sox for shortstop Orlando Cabrera proved prescient when top starters John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar wound up on the disabled list near the end of spring training.
Hunter messed up in the field, too, on an ultimately harmless -- but clearly catchable
-- sinking liner by Jason Kubel in the second. Hunter tried to make a shoe-top grab, but the ball popped out at the last second and was ruled a single.
This came about a half-hour after Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire presented the popular center fielder with his seventh Gold Glove award in a brief pregame ceremony that prompted another standing ovation.
The Twins could've used some extra fielding practice, too. In the fifth, Chone Figgins hit a harmless grounder to new shortstop Adam Everett, whose threw sailed wide of first base for an error. Guerrero drove in the fourth run with a two-out single two batters later.
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Everett, signed by the Twins explicitly for his noted defense, made amends in the bottom of the inning by driving in Minnesota's only run off Garland with a two-out single.
Delmon Young made a late break on a line drive hit to left by Figgins, and the ball sailed over his head for a double in the seventh against Jesse Crain. Figgins scored on a two-out single by Anderson.
Bonser completed six innings without a walk, allowing eight hits and four runs
-- three of them earned. He struck out four, but it wasn't the kind of start he hoped for after a winter devoted to better nutrition that caused him to drop about 30 pounds from his 6-foot-4 frame to settle in around 235.
The bullpen was off, too. Crain gave up the fifth run in his first appearance since last May, coming off shoulder surgery. Brian Bass made his major league debut and gave up two more in the ninth; one was unearned due to a wild relay throw to second by Harris that could have started a double play.
Rincon gave up two more still on a two-run single smashed up the middle by Maicer Izturis that nearly hit him in the leg to make it 9-1.
[Associated Press; By DAVE CAMPBELL]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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