MINNEAPOLIS -- A few more road starts like the one he turned in Thursday, and the Angels may be ready to fire up the bus for the Ervin Across America Tour.
Showing the kind of confidence, command and poise he rarely displayed away from Angel Stadium last season, Ervin Santana gave up two runs and four hits in six innings to lead the Angels to a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the Metrodome.
Closer Francisco Rodriguez struck out Michael Cuddyer on a full-count slider with two on for his second save, extending the Angels' win streak to three and preserving Santana's first road win since last June 9 at St. Louis, a span of 15 starts.
Santana went 6-4 with a 3.27 earned-run average at home last season but pitched so poorly on the road (1-10, 8.38 ERA) he was demoted to triple-A Salt Lake last July.
The right-hander refined his hip turn in the Dominican winter league and grew more comfortable with his delivery this spring, but it wasn't only Santana's mechanics that looked different Thursday.
It was the way he carried himself, the way he seemed to trust his stuff and the way he pitched aggressively inside, backing several Twins off the plate.
"His whole demeanor and mound presence were awesome," catcher Mike Napoli said. "It gave me confidence I could put down any pitch, and he'd hit his spot."
Santana has always had a 95-mph fastball and a good slider and changeup, but Thursday, he treated them like weapons.
In the third inning, he knocked leadoff batter Carlos Gomez on his back with a high-and-tight fastball, then struck him out with a slider away.
"If you're not aggressive, the hitter is going to take advantage of you," said Santana, who struck out three and walked two. "I was trying to start hard and finish hard, no matter what."
The Angels took a 3-0 lead in the third on Howie Kendrick's leadoff double, Maicer Izturis' run-scoring single and Gary Matthews Jr.'s two-run home run, and Santana blanked the Twins on one hit through five.
Trouble found Santana in the sixth, when Gomez led off with a bunt single, took second on third baseman Chone Figgins' throwing error and scored on Joe Mauer's double to right.
But instead of suffering a meltdown, as he did so often on the road last season, Santana escaped with only two runs allowed, the second scoring on Justin Morneau's sacrifice fly.
