Winfield Singles Out Angels : Baseball: Former teammate comes back and leads the Twins with four of their 22 hits in 13-3 rout.

The Angels should have hung on to Dave Winfield when they had the chance in 1991. The same goes for the Toronto Blue Jays, who blew their chance last December.

Winfield is all Minnesota’s now, just as he once was so many years ago. And he keeps showing he can still play the game.

The Angels saw that firsthand in a 13-3 loss to the Twins, who had 22 hits, before 18,085 Monday night at Anaheim Stadium.

It would have been one thing if Winfield came back to Anaheim, where he wore an Angel uniform in 1990 and ‘91, and had a hit and went home. But Winfield hit Angel pitching with four singles, including a two-run single in the Twins’ six-run fourth inning. In the sixth, he bunted for a base hit, then stole his first base of the season.

One can only stop and wonder what the youthful Angels would be like with the experience and leadership of Winfield.

Certainly Toronto, had a good view of things in ’92 when Winfield batted .290 with 26 home runs and 108 RBIs in the Blue Jays’ World Series champion season.

The Angels, the team he left behind as a free agent, had only the ninth-best batting average (.247) by designated hitters in the American League. Their DH home run total of 11 was tied for 13th and were the fewest in club history.

The Angels’ commitment to youth and cost-cutting simply left no room for Winfield, a former three-sport star at the University of Minnesota.

The club’s fast start this season turned heads, and Winfield said it’s a good thing.

“If they had gotten off on the wrong foot people would be saying ‘What are you doing with all those young people?’ ” he said. “But if you can’t live with what you have, you might as well go with the young people. It’s going to be tough, very tough.”

In the past, Winfield has repeatedly said he wants to play two or three more seasons, then retire. But the years keep rolling by and Winfield’s still going strong.

“As long as I play hard and they want me . . . “ he said. “I certainly don’t want to stay past the time I feel good and make contributions.”

Thanks to Winfield, the fourth inning turned out to be the Angels’ worst of the season.

Before Monday, they hadn’t allowed more than six runs in a game. But the Twins got to Farrell for six runs in the fourth inning alone.

Farrell seemed to have a firm grip on his control, walking only one batter in 3 2/3 innings. But he wasn’t fooling anyone with his stuff. Maybe he would have been better off a little wild. It might have kept the Twins off balance.

Things turned ugly after Farrell retired Pedro Munoz and Shane Mack on groundouts.

Mike Pagliarulo singled to center. Pat Meares singled to left. Gene Larkin singled home Pagliarulo. Chuck Knoblauch singled home Meares. Kent Hrbek walked. Winfield followed with a two-run single to left. Brian Harper singled through Farrell’s legs, scoring Hrbek.

And mercifully that was all for Farrell, who yielded to Ken Patterson.

Munoz hit Patterson’s first pitch into center field, scoring Winfield. Finally, Mack, a former UCLA standout who ended up with four hits including a two-run homer in the seventh, grounded out to end the fourth.

The Angels were history after that.

Monday’s wipeout represented a giant step backward for Farrell, returning to the major leagues after spending two seasons recovering from elbow surgery.

It was the poorest performance of the season for Farrell, who was coming off an impressive victory over the New York Yankees last week.

He went 7 1/3 strong innings, allowing two runs and six hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

He gave up six runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings against Minnesota.