LDN - Sports

Big 7th pushes Twins past Orioles

[July 29, 2016] MINNEAPOLIS -- Kyle Gibson wasn't as sharp Thursday as he was his last time out, but was good enough to keep the Minnesota Twins close.

The right-hander pitched six innings of two-run ball, giving the Twins offense enough time to get going against the Baltimore Orioles in a 6-2 victory at Target Field.

Gibson allowed one run in eight innings against the Boston Red Sox last Friday, not allowing a hit after the first inning. The Twins trailed by a run after Gibson's first pitch Thursday, but he recovered nicely, limiting the damage despite scattering nine hits.

"He had to grind a lot more," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It looked like he was trying to go to his offspeed a little bit more early and he didn't have quite the command as he did in Boston. But he was able to fight through it and minimize the damage."

Trailing by one in the sixth, Minnesota's Max Kepler blasted his 11th homer to give the Twins dugout a jolt.

Five straight Twins reached in the seventh as Minnesota scored four runs to pull away. Brian Dozier and Kepler each had run-scoring singles before the big blow, a two-run triple by Eddie Rosario over the head of Orioles center fielder Adam Jones gave the Twins a 6-2 lead.

Baltimore saw its lead over the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the American League East trimmed to 1 1/2 games prior to the teams beginning a three-game series at Rogers Centre on Friday.

Jones hit his 19th homer and also doubled to lead the Orioles. Ubaldo Jimenez, making his first appearance in nearly three weeks, allowed one run and five hits through five innings and left in line for the victory. Jimenez struck out eight and walked three.

"It's been awhile since I was on the mound and faced hitters. It felt good to go out there and compete and give us a chance to win," Jimenez said. "I had command of the fastball, had command of all my breaking balls. I had everything tonight."

Odrisamer Despaigne (0-2) was responsible for most of Minnesota's late damage, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings.

Chaz Roe allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings in relief of Despaigne. Baltimore dropped to fourth in the majors with a 3.09 bullpen ERA.

"You could tell (Jimenez) was strong early," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We just didn't get much done after (the fourth inning. We didn't take advantage of some opportunities."

Ryan Pressly (5-5) pitched one shutout inning in relief of Gibson to earn the win.

Jones gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead, hammering a first-pitch fastball from Gibson just over the wall in left field for his 19th homer.

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It was the fourth leadoff home run by the Orioles this season and third by Jones.

The Twins got the run back against Jimenez in the bottom of the inning when Robbie Grossman dropped a single into center field and came around to score when Joe Mauer yanked a fastball just inside the first-base bag and into the right-field corner. Mauer cruised into third with his third triple.

Baltimore had a chance to break the game open in the fourth, stringing together three singles and a double but scored only once.

Chris Davis led off the inning with a single and wound up on third after a double off the left-field wall by Mark Trumbo, but he was thrown out at the plate on Jonathan Schoop's ground ball to third baseman Eduardo Escobar.

Pedro Alvarez followed with a single to right, but Trumbo was cut down at the plate on a throw by Kepler from right field.

Schoop, who advanced to third on the play, scored on J.J. Hardy's RBI single just over the outstretched glove of shortstop Eduardo Nunez for a 2-1 lead.

"Huge. Defense definitely saved me tonight," Gibson said. "Unfortunately, I gave up the two out hit there. But something to work on for next time."

After the game, Nunez was traded to the San Francisco Giants for minor-league pitcher Adalberto Mejia, a left-hander who compiled a 4.20 ERA in seven starts for Triple-A Sacramento. Mejia was assigned to Triple-A Rochester and the Twins recalled infielder Jorge Polanco to take Nunez's spot on the 25-man roster.

NOTES: The game was a makeup of a contest that was rained out May 9. ... Orioles manager Buck Showalter has 516 victories in seven seasons as the Baltimore skipper, one behind Paul Richards for second on the team's all-time list. ... Orioles C Matt Wieters did not start and was replaced by Caleb Joseph. ... Twins 3B Miguel Sano got the night off after striking out three times in each of the last two games. He was replaced at third by Eduardo Escobar. ... Minnesota continues its homestand Friday when it opens a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field.

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