MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Santander hit two of Baltimore’s six homers and the Orioles accomplished a sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 15-2 victory on Sunday.
Aaron Hicks added a three-run homer in opposition to his former group within the Orioles’ seven-run fifth. Austin Hays, Ramón Urías and Adley Rutschman additionally went deep for Baltimore.
Baltimore closed the primary half of the season on a five-game profitable streak after dropping 4 straight.
“We’ve been playing these last five games extremely well,” Orioles supervisor Brandon Hyde stated. “Our starting pitching has been the key. We showed our power today. I feel like we were in a power drought a little bit there for a little while, but these guys showed you how much power they have.”
After scoring seven runs within the fifth, the Orioles’ offense continued to roll within the sixth with six extra runs. Rutschman – who will compete within the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday in Seattle – launched a career-long, 461-foot two-run drive within the sixth off reliever Cole Sands.
Santander adopted with a solo shot, the primary time this season the Orioles hit back-to-back residence runs. He homered once more within the seventh for his team-leading sixteenth of the 12 months.
“Great first half for everybody as a team,” Santander stated. “I think it’s good momentum to keep playing like this the second half.”
It’s the second time in 4 video games Baltimore scored a minimum of 14 runs. They scored 14 in opposition to the Yankees within the sequence finale Thursday.
Baltimore headed into the break with a 54-35 document, two video games behind first-place Tampa Bay within the American League East. The loss dropped the Twins to 45-46, a half recreation again of Cleveland within the AL Central.
“We put ourselves in a position where we can still go out there, play some good baseball, accomplish everything we want to accomplish,” Twins supervisor Rocco Baldelli stated. “No doors are closed right now, which I think is a silver lining, even after a game like today.”
Former Twin Kyle Gibson (9-6) was sharp in opposition to his previous membership. The right-hander struck out 11 and allowed simply three hits in seven innings, two of them to Edouard Julien. The Twins second baseman drove within the recreation’s first run with a double within the first and hit a solo homer within the sixth.
Not generally known as a high-strikeout pitcher all through his profession, Gibson tied his profession excessive Sunday with 11.
“I’ve had months where I haven’t struck out 11 guys in my career,” Gibson stated. “To do it in one game is really special. I think I still have just as many zero strikeout games as I do double-digit strikeout games.”
Baltimore chased Twins starter Joe Ryan (8-6) from the sport after simply 4 2/3 innings. Ryan completed with a season-high 10 strikeouts, together with the primary eight outs he recorded. But he bumped into bother within the fifth earlier than getting pulled after 98 pitches.
Despite Sunday’s outing, Minnesota enters the break with the second-best ERA (3.64) amongst all beginning rotations within the majors.
“We have a little bit more potential to show and capitalize on, some talents that we haven’t really done as well in the first half,” Ryan stated. “Hopefully everyone can take a couple days, and then also focus up and hone in on what they can control, and what we can control as a group.”
TRAINERS ROOM
Orioles: Prior to Sunday’s recreation, Baltimore activated infielder Ryan Mountcastle (vertigo) from the 10-day injured listing and optioned LHP Bruce Zimmermann to Triple-A Norfolk. Mountcastle hadn’t performed since June 8 and was formally positioned on the IL on June 13. He wasn’t within the beginning lineup Sunday however had a pinch hit RBI single within the fifth inning.
Twins: INF Jorge Polanco, who hasn’t performed since June 8 with a left hamstring pressure, might start his rehab project with Triple-A St. Paul as quickly as subsequent weekend, stated Derek Falvey, the Twins’ President of Baseball Operations. “All signs really point to good news,” Falvey stated.
UP NEXT
Both groups enter the All-Star break.
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