Twins 9, Orioles 2: Boom, Bam, Bop

For a moment, it seemed the Orioles had the edge on the Twins.

After achieving an early lead on a third-inning sacrifice fly, Baltimore scored in back-to-back frames, each run coming from a two-out single. The Twins offense was (at first) uncharacteristically quiet, relying on a two-run, eight-strikeout performance from starter Jose Berrios to keep things interesting.

After Berrios’ last pitch in the top of the sixth, Minnesota came out swinging in the home half. Shortly following a Nelson Cruz double, first baseman C.J. Cron roped a laser into the left field seats, putting the Twins ahead 3-2.

In the seventh, Max Kepler would add a two-run shot of his own to extend the lead. Unsatisfied with the team’s power display, Marwin Gonzalez made it 6-2 Twins with a slump-busting bomb shot into deep right-center.

Marwin’s homer was the 19th such blast against the O’s in five games this season.

Later in the inning, Jason Castro popped the top off of his own two-run shot to right-center.

Castro’s homer was the 20th such blast against the O’s in five games this season.

Then Max Kepler launched one into a similar spot.

Kepler’s homer was the 21st such blast against the O’s in five games this season.

Kep’s shot also marked the second straight game wherein Minnesota has launched five homers. Almost half of all the team’s dingers this year have came against Baltimore — an impressive feat for a non-division rival.

The Twins relied on the trio of Trevor May, Taylor Rogers, and Adalberto Mejia to lock down three scoreless innings and secure another series victory for the boys in blue, red, and kasota gold piping.

It’s the fifth straight win against Baltimore this season, and the eleventh straight victory against the Orioles in the all-time series.

Perhaps the only downside of the game was Willians Astudillo pulling a hamstring, but he’s just day-to-day, so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

Catch us again tomorrow as we go for the sweep!

STUDS:

CF-RF Max Kepler (2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI)

1B C.J. Cron (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI)

The pitching staff (9 IP, 2 ER, 8 H, 0 BB, 14 K)

DUDS:

NO DUDS! TWINS WIN!

ROBOT ROLL CALL: