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Chone Figgins made sure the Angels didn't waste a solid pitching performance by Kelvim Escobar.

Figgins drilled a two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning and, while it merely padded a lead as opposed to erasing a deficit, the blow added emphasis to a solid night by Escobar, who clearly fed off his teammate's support and struck out 10 batters.

With 13 hits, including four for extra bases, the Angels recorded an 8-2 victory over the Twins on Tuesday night to open the three-game series with only their second win in the last six games.

It improved the Halos' mark to 2-3 at the halfway point of a 10-game road trip, and 7-7 for the season.

"I don't think we're looking at anything that happened behind us," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We just need to pitch at this level like Kelvim was tonight."

His last time out, Escobar didn't put hitters away and paid the price by allowing eight runs, though only four of those were earned, and he took the loss against the Rangers. But against the Twins, Escobar was sharp early on and was able to carry through some tight middle innings.

"I didn't pitch good at all today, but Kelvim, he threw a helluva game," said Carlos Silva, who started for the Twins and took the loss. "I know he can pitch. People say the offense didn't do anything today but, man, if you saw those pitches that he was throwing. I don't think there was anything any offense can do to hit that guy. He was throwing so many nasty pitches."

After allowing just a walk in the first, Escobar struck out the side in the second and gave up his first hit when Lew Ford singled to lead off the third. Juan Castro followed with a single, but Escobar caught a bit of a break when Shannon Stewart looked at strike three and Castro took a big secondary lead at first base.

Catcher Jeff Mathis fired to first and the Angels caught Castro in a rundown, with second baseman Adam Kennedy applying the tag. Luis Castillo followed with a single to drive in Ford, but Escobar induced a ground ball out of Joe Mauer to end the threat.

The Angels handed Escobar the lead in the top of the fourth on RBIs by Orlando Cabrera's double into the right-field corner and Garret Anderson's single up the middle. He held the Twins scoreless in the fourth and faced his toughest test in the fifth.

After Kennedy lifted an RBI double to left and Figgins followed with his second home run of the year, Escobar allowed three straight hits to open the inning.

Ford doubled, stole third and scored on Castro's RBI single to left. Stewart singled and Escobar faced runners on the corners with none out. But where he found bats in his last start, Escobar painted the corners and was particularly sharp with his split-finger and breaking pitches.

Escobar got both Castillo and Mauer looking and then ended the threat by getting Tony Batista to hit a ground ball to short.

"I had a lot of confidence in my secondary pitches," Escobar said. "My location was better than last time. I threw the ball down better and my offspeed pitches were better."

Escobar (2-1) also struck out the side in the sixth as he reached double figures in strikeouts for the eighth time in his career. He established a career-high with 12 against the Blue Jays on Sept. 8, 2004.

"I was able to get the punchout when I needed it and that was huge," said Escobar, who allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings. "It is good when you're able to do that."

Scot Shields tossed the eighth and ninth innings to earn his first save of the year.

Pacing Escobar was the offense that was set down in order in three innings but hit in bunches to produce a runaway victory. Every Angels hitter got at least one hit except Vladimir Guerrero, who went 0-for-5.

Both Figgins and Cabrera went 3-for-5, while Kennedy was 2-for-4. Figgins and Kennedy also scored twice.

Figgins drove in three runs, two on his home run off Silva (1-2) that hit the facing on the upper deck in right field. It was Figgins' second home run in the last three games and continued a trend for the Angels' super-utility man.

Last season, Figgins established a career high with eight home runs but twice homered in consecutive games. He went deep in Boston on June 3-4 and later in Chicago on Sept. 10-11.

Figgins said he's been talking with hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, who has emphasized driving the ball when presented with the right opportunity.

"That type of swing I feel confident driving the ball," Figgins said. "I might hit a line drive too high and that is what I did."

Figgins is the offensive catalyst and will not be counted on for power but the Angels will take it.

"He has surprising power; he can put a charge in the ball," Scioscia said. "That is the last thing we need but when he squares it up he is surprising."

As far as J.C. Romero is concerned, his chapter with the Twins is closed.

The left-hander pitched parts of seven seasons in Minnesota but had run-ins with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire last season over how he was used. The Angels acquired Romero in exchange for Minor League infielder Alexi Casilla in a trade last December.

Romero said he spoke with Gardenhire after the trade and has put the episode behind him.

"It was a respectful thing," said Romero, who was back in his old park Tuesday as the Angels opened a three-game series here. "Everyone can disagree. It's like with a parent -- you can disagree with a parent. It was a family thing."

Romero added that he learned from the experience and has matured. The biggest lesson, Romero said, was facing that the manager is the boss.

With the Twins, Romero enjoyed his best season in 2002 when he was 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 81 appearances while also earning one save. Last season, Romero posted a 4-3 mark with 3.47 ERA in 68 games.

His role with the Angels is evolving. The lone lefty in the bullpen, Romero is second to Scot Shields as a late-inning setup man to closer Francisco Rodriguez. He is also called on to get the tough left-hander, but the Angels would prefer to not use him as a one-batter specialist.

Through his first five games with the Angels this season, Romero had not allowed an earned run while posting a 1-0 record in 4 2/3 innings.

"Right now, I have to take care of business with my new team," Romero said. "If you're comfortable with your surroundings, you will pitch a lot better."

One that got away: The Twins have been happy with Casilla, who is playing at Fort Myers, the Twins' high Class A affiliate. Manager Mike Scioscia liked him as well.

"He has a terrific amount of ability," Scioscia said. "We needed that left-handed influence in the bullpen, but it came at a price.

Casilla is hitting .340 with five doubles in 11 games for the Miracle.

Trainer's room: Juan Rivera was out of the lineup again Tuesday with a left rib-cage strain while Tim Salmon was available as a pinch-hitter as he works through a slight stain of his right hip flexor muscle. Rodriguez was available after a day out of action with a right hamstring strain.

Rivera is hitting .229 with two homers and five RBIs in 12 games this season.

"Rivera is feeling better," Scioscia said. "It is a tweak, but it has improved."

Salmon left Sunday's game after collecting two singles. It was his seventh start of the regular season but the first time this year he's suffered a setback. Salmon had two surgeries in 2004, one to his left knee and another to his left shoulder.

"I feel good right now," said Salmon, who is hitting .333 with a double, triple, two homers and two RBIs. "It was a little stiff yesterday. I can still feel a little bit of it."

Shuffling: Garret Anderson was the designated hitter Tuesday, with Chone Figgins starting in left field for the first time this season. Scioscia said he wanted to get Anderson off his feet given the artificial surface at the Metrodome. He added that Vladimir Guerrero will likely DH at some point during the three-game series.

Maicer Izturis started at third base and batted sixth.

Suspended: Angels farmhand RHP Karl Gelinas was one of four Minor Leaguers to receive a 50-day suspension Tuesday for violating baseball's drug policy. Angel Rocha, a pitcher in the Diamondbacks organization, was given a 100-day suspension for a second offense.

Gelinas, a 47th-round pick in 2003, was 0-2 with a 7.59 ERA in two games at Class A Rancho Cucamonga this season.

"It is big, but that is the purpose of it," Scioscia said. "Everyone knows the ground rules and all of our guys have been briefed on it. It is unfortunate."

On the farm: Triple-A Salt Lake was snowed out in its series finale against Portland. ... Second baseman Howie Kendrick is on an 11-game hitting streak and leads the Bees with a .449 batting average through 11 games. ... Right-hander Kevin Gregg has not allowed a run in three games, covering 10 innings.

On deck: The Angels will face the Twins in the second game of a three-game series at 5:10 p.m. PT on Wednesday. Right-hander Ervin Santana will start against Minnesota right-hander Kyle Lohse. Right-hander Bartolo Colon will face the Twins on Thursday.

The problems began for the Angels early in Monday's game - and actually even before the game.

Juan Rivera felt some tightness in his rib cage during batting practice and got pulled from the lineup. Angel starter Jeff Weaver then gave up two runs in the first and second innings. To make things worse, Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera found the control that had eluded him in his first two starts.

All of these things combined to help the Angels lose for the fourth time in five games. The Orioles used the four early runs and Cabrera's strong seven innings to pull out a 4-2 victory over the Angels in the series finale before 15,691 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Angels dropped three of four to the Orioles and head to Minnesota trying to straighten things out, never an easy task on the road.

Weaver shut down the Orioles for the last five innings he threw Monday night. But it's what the Orioles did in his first two innings that helped them beat the Angels. Weaver (0-2) gave up just two hits in the final five innings and retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.

The Orioles got a two-run homer from Miguel Tejada in the first and a two-run double from Brian Roberts in the second to give them a lead they never lost. Weaver settled down after that, allowing just four runs (two earned) on five hits in seven innings.

"The only thing was the slider I threw to Tejada -- garbage," Weaver said. "I left it over the middle of the plate, and he blasted it. If I located that slider where it's supposed to be, it's a fly ball to right."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said the early deficit was too much to overcome, especially with Cabrera on his game.

"We [were] swimming upstream a little from the beginning," Scioscia said. "Jeff pitched a terrific game."

But Cabrera was the story in this game. The Angels weren't able to do much against Cabrera (1-1), who suddenly found his control after walking 16 batters in his first 6 1/3 innings this season. He struck out five and walked one while holding the Angels to one run on five hits in seven innings.

"He came in and got in the zone early and got in a groove," Scioscia said. "He made some pitches when he had to. I think we made him work for it. He found his release point. He's got great stuff."

Cabrera retired the first eight batters he faced and threw 106 pitches, 70 for strikes. He made a number of good pitches after falling behind in the count, showing the poise he hadn't in his first two starts.

"It was working today and everything was perfect," Cabrera said.

The Angels wanted to try to get into hitter's counts that would force Cabrera to make pitches easier for them to handle. But if he fell behind 2-0 or 3-1, the right-hander would make a good pitch that put him back in a better position.

More often than not, Cabrera got ahead early in the count. That's why patience was hard for the Angels batters to find.

"It's tough to ... stand up there and try to be patient [when] you get behind against a guy with that kind of stuff," said Angels second baseman Adam Kennedy. "The history of guys like that is they [have] games where they figure it all out."

Another Angels defensive miscue helped the Orioles. After Tejada's homer gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead in the first, shortstop Orlando Cabrera booted a Corey Patterson grounder. Then, with two outs, Roberts blasted a two-run double to left for a 4-0 lead. "I tried to throw it to third base before I got it," Cabrera said. He's now made four errors already this year after committing just seven miscues last season.

The Angels' best threat against Daniel Cabrera came when they used two hits and his only walk to load the bases with two out in the seventh. Garret Anderson scored on catcher Ramon Hernandez's passed ball with Maicer Izturis up. But Cabrera then got Izturis to fly out to end the threat.

Anderson got an RBI single off Orioles reliever LaTroy Hawkins in the eighth. But Hawkins got out of further trouble, and closer Chris Ray finished the job in the ninth.

Rivera said he hopes to be back in two days, and reliever Francisco Rodriguez (hamstring) and designated hitter Tim Salmon (groin) are day-to-day. The Orioles had their own bad luck when outfielder David Newhan suffered a fractured fibula sliding into second base in the first inning. He's scheduled for surgery Thursday and said he expects to be out six to eight weeks.