MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Brian Cooper was pitching so poorly that he needed a makeover, if not a disguise. He ditched his wardrobe, dyed his hair and sideburns jet black and even tinkered with his mechanics.

The new look has brought newfound luck.

Cooper won his last two starts at Triple-A Edmonton and continued his rebirth Tuesday night by pitching six solid innings in the Anaheim Angels' 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

"I needed something new, so I got some new clothes and a new hairdo. That's been the key, 3-0 in three starts," said Cooper, who still sports blond peach fuzz on his face. "As long as I keep winning, I'll keep it."

His manager won't mind.

"The guy gets six innings for us, that's a big lift," Mike Scioscia said. "I thought his arm action was great. I thought his command was good. I liked everything about him."

Even the 'do.

Cooper (1-0), making his first major league start since last Sept. 29, scattered five hits over six innings for his first victory since Sept. 7 of last year, when he won his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox at Anaheim.

"I was struggling at the beginning of the year. I kind of revamped my windup and went back to the basics," said Cooper, who was sent to the minors after an inconsistent spring.

Cooper was recalled from Edmonton on Monday when right-hander Mark Petkovsek was placed on the 15-day disabled list with viral syndrome. Joe Mays (1-6) gave up seven runs and seven hits in three-plus innings. He walked three, including two with the bases loaded, and surrendered homers to Mo Vaughn (417 feet) and Darin Erstad (411).

Mays almost didn't make it out of the first inning, when the Angels batted around, scoring two runs on Tim Salmon's single and two more on bases-loaded walks to Scott Spiezio and Bengie Molina.

The first two outs of the inning were forceouts at home, and the third was a foul ball run down by third baseman Ron Coomer while Travis Miller was already warming up in the Twins' bullpen.

"Joe was all over the place," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "He just had a bad day, a real sluggish start and he never recovered."

Vaughn's 16th homer, an upper-deck shot, made it 5-0 in the second inning, and Erstad led off the fourth with his seventh homer.

Mays was yanked after the next batter, Adam Kennedy, struck out but reached first on May's wild pitch. Miller gave up an RBI double to Garret Anderson, making it 7-0.

"He's got a good arm, we were fortunate to get to him early," Scioscia said.

David Ortiz's two-run double in the fourth made it 7-2 and Brian Buchanan's first major league homer, a two-run, 415-foot shot off Cooper, made it 7-4 in the sixth.

"It's nice, but we lost the game. So, it's not really," Buchanan said. "I wish we would have won the game and I go 0-for-4."

The Twins got consecutive one-out singles off Shigetoshi Hasegawa in the eighth, but Buchanan grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

"After we got going some, it was a pretty good game," Kelly said. "but the barn door was already closed and we couldn't dent it."

Troy Percival pitched a perfect ninth for his AL-leading 13th save.

Game notes
The Twins held a moment of silence for Timberwolves swingman Malik Sealy, who was killed in a traffic accident last weekend. ... The Twins got rid of yet another player who was on their team last year: LHP Benj Sampson, who had an 8.85 ERA at Triple A Salt Lake this season. ... Angels LHP Kent Mercker was released from a hospital in Orange County, Calif., after a 12-day stay following a cerebral hemorrhage. "We're obviously happy he's out of the hospital and doing better," Scioscia said. The Angels have no timetable for Mercker's return. ... Minnesota third baseman Corey Koskie's wife, Shannon, gave birth to a boy Monday night. ... Twins reliever Hector Carrasco had two wild pitches in a three-pitch span in the sixth.