Anaheim, Calif. ? Troy Glaus keeps hitting the ball to the opposite field and pushing the Anaheim Angels toward their first World Series.

Glaus hit a 3-1 pitch from Minnesota left-hander J.C. Romero into the right-field seats leading off the eighth inning Friday, giving the Angels a 2-1 victory against the Twins and a 2-1 lead in the AL championship series.

“When he’s swinging the bat well, he’ll use the whole field,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He went through a real tough stretch for a couple months in the middle of the summer. But he stayed with it, kept working with it.

“He’s gotten some huge hits for us the last month of the season and now, obviously, in the playoffs.”

Glaus, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound third baseman who often displays disgust when he fails to succeed, pumped his fist as he rounded first base after hitting his fourth postseason homer in seven games.

Normally a strict pull hitter, Glaus went the other way earlier in the game with a leadoff single in the fourth.

Glaus singled and tripled to help Anaheim beat the Twins 6-3 in Game 2. He scored after both hits, triggering the only two innings in which the Angels scored.

“I think everybody, as hitters, we’re always trying to stay on the ball and go the other way,” Glaus said. “The pitchers have a little bit to do dictating that. But the last couple days, just fortunate to get a couple pitches outside and put some good swings on it and not pop them up or do what I have done in the past.”

Glaus is two short of the postseason record of six homers held by five players, most recently Cleveland’s Jim Thome in 1998.

“He’s very talented, he’s a prime-time player,” teammate Darin Erstad said. “It’s pretty safe to say when he’s hitting to the opposite field that he’s pretty locked in.”

Anaheim's Troy Glaus defiantly rounds first base after hitting a solo home run during Game 3 of the American League championship series against Minnesota on Friday in Anaheim, Calif.

Home runs are no surprise for the 26-year-old Glaus, who hit an AL-leading 47 homers two years ago and 41 last season.

He fell off to 30 this year, when he batted only .250, but seemed to find his groove against the New York Yankees in the division series, hitting three homers.

Despite the drop-off in homers this season, Glaus drove in a career-high 111 runs. Never has he had a bigger RBI than this one.

“He’s got power to hit it that way,” Angels first baseman Scott Spiezio said. “He’s got long arms. Small guys like me can’t do that stuff. He’s got freak strength.

“It seems like they’ve been keeping the ball away from him lately. I think as you grow up, most people tell you home runs are pulled. He can go the other way like guys like A-Rod and Bonds. He hasn’t hit 73, but as he matures he can hit a lot of them the other way,” Spiezio said.

Hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said going the other way for Glaus starts in batting practice.

Anaheim pitcher Jarrod Washburn was nearly perfect on Friday.

“He’s worked on it during the last month of the season,” Hatcher said. “I think batting practice is where it all starts. I want him to knock the fences down the other way.”

Glaus hit .298 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs against left-handers this season as compared to .230 with 20 homers and 70 RBIs against right-handers.

The media-shy Glaus said he’s adjusting to all the attention of the postseason.

“I mean, it’s all right. It beats being at home right now,” he said with a laugh. “You’ve just got to deal with it, it’s fine.”

Glaus’ homer revved up the red-clad Edison Field crowd of 44,234, which was disappointed an inning earlier when the Angels failed to score despite loading the bases.

Romero, the fourth Minnesota pitcher in the seventh, retired Garret Anderson on a fly to the warning track in right to end the inning.

Romero made only four more pitches before giving up the go-ahead homer in the eighth.

“Honestly, I didn’t know it was gone until it hit the seats,” Glaus said. “We’ve all played in this stadium enough to know when it gets cold, the ball doesn’t carry very well. For right-handers to hit it over there, you’ve got to hit it pretty good.”