Angels Deliver Parting Shots : Baseball: Polonia, no fan of dome, sparks a 9-4 victory over Twins.

MINNEAPOLIS —  No one will ever sell Luis Polonia on the virtues of playing in the Metrodome.

Even after he got three hits in four at-bats, a walk, two runs batted in and three stolen bases in the Angels’ 9-4 victory over the Twins Sunday, Polonia’s distaste for the dome didn’t waver. It was as intense as it was Friday, when he lost two fly balls against the background of the Teflon roof.

“I don’t like the place, no matter what,” Polonia said.

“It’s over and I’m glad I’m out of here,” Polonia said. “I want to see the sun and I want to see the moon.”

He can see the sun and the moon and stars named Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco tonight, when the Oakland Athletics open the Angels’ home schedule with a four-game series at Anaheim Stadium. Based on the Angels’ 5-1 start--their best since an identical start in 1970--Polonia said the Angels can unseat the defending American League champions this season.

“Everybody says, ‘Oh, the Oakland A’s.’ People in this league don’t believe we can get them out of the way, but we can get them out of the way,” said Polonia, who had three three-steal games before he victimized Jack Morris and the Twins Sunday.

“We can beat anybody in this league right now and people are going to realize that. We get 10 hits every game, score more than five runs every game, the pitchers are doing their job . . . I’m real excited about (today). I can’t wait. It’s going to be a good series.”

Lance Parrish, who hit a home run against Steve Bedrosian in the seventh for the Angels’ final run, is equally confident.

“I think this ballclub is a little more prepared to play Oakland than the other two years I’ve been here,” said Parrish, who also homered Saturday and is batting .421. “We match them better and we can play them man-to-man better than we did before.

“It’s a long season and it’s very early. Even if we were to sweep them, it would give us respect I think we deserve from them, but there’s still a lot of games to play.”

With Dave Winfield getting a day off and Dave Parker being held to a single in four at-bats, the Angels substituted speed for power.

Polonia led off the game with a single to left, stole second, took third on a ground out and scored on Gary Gaetti’s sacrifice fly, the first of Gaetti’s four RBIs against his former team.

A double by Jack Howell in his first at-bat of the season, a wild pitch and a ground out produced another run in the second, and Polonia got things going again in the third. He walked, stole second, went to third on Donnie Hill’s single to center and scored on Gaetti’s single to left. Parrish drove in Hill with a single to right.

“There were a number of times today we did a number of offensive things that were very, very correct,” Angel Manager Doug Rader said. “It really pleases me when we’re able to do things like that.”

It pleased him just as much to see Chuck Finley (2-0) persevere through seven-plus innings despite a severe head cold. “I know it doesn’t seem like much, but when it robs you of the oxygen you need to pitch, it’s tough,” Rader said. “I thought he did very well.”

Finley did well to get out of the fifth inning, a barrier Scott Lewis was unable to clear Saturday with a similarly large lead.

Polonia’s run-scoring single drove in Junior Felix in the fourth to give Finley a 5-0 lead, but the Twins chipped away in the fifth. Shane Mack opened with a triple to center and scored on Junior Ortiz’s ground out.

Finley gave up consecutive walks to Scott Leius and Greg Gagne before getting Dan Gladden to take a third strike. Chuck Knoblauch singled to right for Minnesota’s second run, but Finley escaped further peril when Gagne was forced at third on Kirby Puckett’s fielder’s choice grounder.

Finley, who has a seven-game winning streak against the Twins and is 8-2 against them, said the Angels’ comfortable lead didn’t make him complacent.

“I don’t even really pay attention to the score until it gets late in the game. It was 5-0, and the next thing I knew, it was 5-3,” said Finley, who left after walking Knoblauch in the eighth. He was charged with the third run after Knoblauch moved to second on Puckett’s single against Mark Eichhorn, to third on a ground out and scored on Hrbek’s grounder to the right side.

“In here, you throw a hanging slider, and the score changes in a hurry,” Finley said. “I was just basically trying to get them to hit the ball on the ground. The only time I look at the score is in the seventh or eighth inning. I pitch as if it’s 0-0.”

Going home with a good week behind them has buoyed the Angels’ confidence, but they are being reasonable. Parrish laughed when asked if the feeling in the Angels’ clubhouse compared to the one he felt during the Tigers’ record 35-5 start in 1984.

“It’s a little early for that,” he said, “but I certainly don’t feel overmatched by anybody.”