MINNEAPOLIS -- Albert Pujols drove in three critical runs in the Angels' 8-5 victory over the Twins on Saturday night at Target Field, and he reached a couple of impressive milestones in the process.With his 25th home run in the third inning -- a solo shot -- Pujols became the 70th player ever to reach 1,500 career runs scored. And with a two-out, two-run double in the ninth -- the one that gave the Angels their third and final lead -- he notched his 2,500th career hit. 
Most importantly, though, the Angels won their third straight game against the lowly Twins, moving a season-best 31 games above .500 and maintaining a six-game lead over the A's in the American League West with only 21 games left.The Angels have now won both contests in which they've had to piece together a bullpen game in Garrett Richards' old spot in the rotation. Seven pitchers -- Cory Rasmus, Michael Roth, Yoslan Herrera, Cam Bedrosian, Wade LeBlanc, Joe Smith and Huston Street -- limited the Twins to five runs, giving the offense a chance to constantly battle back.The Angels beat the Twins with their fifth lead in the 10th inning on Friday night, and the two teams went back and forth again in the third meeting of a four-game series.The Angels took an early 2-0 lead on Twins right-hander Phil Hughes, getting a two-out RBI double from Howie Kendrick in the first and a two-out RBI single from C.J. Cron in the second. But the Twins tied it up in the bottom half, when Rasmus served up a two-run homer to Eduardo Escobar.The Angels took the lead again on Pujols' solo shot in the third, but the Twins tied it in the bottom half, on Chris Parmelee's leadoff homer against Roth.The Twins took their first lead in the fourth, when Roth put runners on second and third with two outs and Herrera gave up a two-run single to Aaron Hicks. But the Angels came right back against Twins reliever Casey Fien in the top of the eighth, when Pujols led off with a single, Kendrick hit a triple off the center-field wall and Erick Aybar hit a sacrifice fly.In the ninth, Cron singled, Mike Trout drew a two-out walk, Pujols laced a two-run double down the left-field line and Kendrick added an RBI single, paving the way for Street's save in the bottom half.Pujols became just the 16th player in Major League history with 500-plus homers, 2,500-plus hits and 1,500-plus runs, and just the fourth to do so by his age-34 season (joining Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron and Alex Rodriguez).Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
Most importantly, though, the Angels won their third straight game against the lowly Twins, moving a season-best 31 games above .500 and maintaining a six-game lead over the A's in the American League West with only 21 games left.The Angels have now won both contests in which they've had to piece together a bullpen game in Garrett Richards' old spot in the rotation. Seven pitchers -- Cory Rasmus, Michael Roth, Yoslan Herrera, Cam Bedrosian, Wade LeBlanc, Joe Smith and Huston Street -- limited the Twins to five runs, giving the offense a chance to constantly battle back.The Angels beat the Twins with their fifth lead in the 10th inning on Friday night, and the two teams went back and forth again in the third meeting of a four-game series.The Angels took an early 2-0 lead on Twins right-hander Phil Hughes, getting a two-out RBI double from Howie Kendrick in the first and a two-out RBI single from C.J. Cron in the second. But the Twins tied it up in the bottom half, when Rasmus served up a two-run homer to Eduardo Escobar.The Angels took the lead again on Pujols' solo shot in the third, but the Twins tied it in the bottom half, on Chris Parmelee's leadoff homer against Roth.The Twins took their first lead in the fourth, when Roth put runners on second and third with two outs and Herrera gave up a two-run single to Aaron Hicks. But the Angels came right back against Twins reliever Casey Fien in the top of the eighth, when Pujols led off with a single, Kendrick hit a triple off the center-field wall and Erick Aybar hit a sacrifice fly.In the ninth, Cron singled, Mike Trout drew a two-out walk, Pujols laced a two-run double down the left-field line and Kendrick added an RBI single, paving the way for Street's save in the bottom half.Pujols became just the 16th player in Major League history with 500-plus homers, 2,500-plus hits and 1,500-plus runs, and just the fourth to do so by his age-34 season (joining Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron and Alex Rodriguez).Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
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