Hot start at the plate, strong performances from pitching staff lead Twins past Angels

It couldn't have been a much better start for the Minnesota Twins. Simeon Woods Richardson got three Los Angeles Angels batters to fly out to left field, and the first four Twins to the plate all singled. You might as well have called it a day.

The Twins took an early three-run advantage they never surrendered as they cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Angels on a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 23,905 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

"I can't say enough good things about the lineup up and down," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "You look really from top to bottom, and the guys brought it today. The bats were awake from the very, very start of this game."

The hits just kept coming in the first inning for the Twins (11-16). It started with a leadoff single from Ryan Jeffers and was followed by singles from Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Ty France, Correa and France's singles each driving in runs.

While Trevor Larnach grounded into a 4-6-3 double play the next at-bat, Jonah Bride followed up with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Brooks Lee singled and Harrison Bader drew a walk before Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi finally got Christian Vazquez to fly out and end the inning, though not without allowing the Twins to get all the way through the order.

Kikuchi's rough day for the Angels (12-14) continued in the second inning as Buxton stole second after reaching on a fielder's choice and was brought home on another single from Correa, who appears to be shaking off his struggles at the plate after a couple strong games. He went 2 for 5 on Saturday with two RBIs, though he did strike out two times.

The stolen base was Buxton's 99th of his career, which ranks eighth all time in Twins history.

Overall, it was a strong day from the Twins offense as the team collected 13 hits, drew eight walks and went 6 for 16 with runners in scoring position, though they did leave 13 runners on base. Their final run of the game came in the sixth inning when Lee hit an RBI double that scored France, who led off the inning with a double.

"It's any pitcher's dream," Woods Richardson said of the early offense. "... When it's like this, it just makes our job so much easier. You can't do nothing but applaud and just say thank you to all the guys for the grinding ABs, for I don't know how many double-digit hits. I was a great job on the hitters today. ... And I think we're just having fun, that's the biggest thing."

Woods Richardson headlined a strong day from the pitching staff. His lone blemish was surrendering a solo homer to Zach Neto in the third inning, but he rebounded by striking out the side to the fourth and delivered a 1-2-3 fifth inning. Woods Richardson gave up just four hits and one run while fanning seven across 5 1/3 innings of work in the win.

Brock Stewart relieved Woods Richardson in the sixth inning after Neto hit a one-out single, and he struck out Mike Trout before getting Taylor Ward to fly out to end the inning. Griffin Jax continued to rebound from his early-season struggles with his third straight shutout appearance, fanning a pair in the seventh, and Louis Varland fanned two in a 1-2-3 eighth. Jhoan Duran sent the Angels down in order in the ninth to close out the game.

The Twins and Angels meet for their series finale at 12:40 p.m. CT on Sunday at Target Field.