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 Minnesota took advantage of two Baltimore errors in the top of the
12th inning, the second coming when newly inserted third baseman
Jimmy Paredes booted Shane Robinson's two-out grounder, a miscue
that let Eduardo Escobar score and gave the Twins a stunning 4-3
victory over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
That completed a four-game series sweep for the Twins (63-61), with
three of the victories of the come-from-behind variety. Minnesota
also won all seven games of the season series with the Orioles
(62-61) and moved ahead of Baltimore in the tight American League
wild-card race.
Twins manager Paul Molitor was happy with his team's accomplishments
this weekend, especially after getting swept by the Yankees in a
three-game road series. Molitor liked how his team wrapped up this
sweep -- even though he didn't see the ending of it after being
ejected in the ninth.
"Just one of those games where we hung in there," Molitor said.
"Give everybody credit. A lot of guys manned up. A really good win,
stating the obvious. Coming in here and getting four games against a
really good team is (great)."
The Twins used starting pitcher Tommy Milone as a closer in the
12th, and he earned his first career save. Closer Glen Perkins
(2-4), who had been sidelined with neck problems and was not
expected to return for two more days, pitched a scoreless 11th and
got the win.
"We showed we're not giving up," Milone said. "We go out there, we
battle and we're going to play our games to the very end. We came in
here and did our job."
They did just that, but it was the errors that won it for the Twins
in the 12th as they scored the winning run without a hit.
Escobar reached when Manny Machado, just moved to shortstop,
couldn't come up with his one-out grounder off left-hander Brian
Matusz (1-3). Escobar hustled to second and was still there when
Robinson grounded to Paredes, who couldn't make the play as the ball
bounced into short left.
That let Escobar score the tie-breaking run. Milone then came on and
retired the side in order in the 12th, getting a break when center
fielder Byron Buxton made a leaping catch of first baseman Chris
Davis' blast to start the inning.
Machado clearly was both upset and frustrated after the game, and
his words told the story.
"It's three days in a row, four days in a row, how many days it's
been," he said. "They haven't even got the ball out of the infield
off (Britton), and he's blown a couple of saves that he should have
had. It's just frustrating, frustrating to watch. We lost the game,
but to lose like that makes it that much worse."
The Orioles came within one out of winning before Minnesota first
baseman Trevor Plouffe's seeing-eye single to left off closer Zach
Britton tied the game at 3-3 in the ninth. Second baseman Brian
Dozier, who reached on an infield single, scored on the play.
It was just Britton's third blown save this season.
Dozier made a great head-first slide to just beat Davis' toss to
Britton covering the base. That started the game-tying rally and
added to the frustration of this weekend for Baltimore.
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"Just feel like sometimes you can't quite catch a break, and you've
got to make them, too," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "We had
some opportunities we didn't cash in on. Uncharacteristically had
some errors at the end that cost us. There's a lot of things you can
critique and break down, but we just didn't push over enough runs."
The Orioles again wasted numerous scoring chances, going 2-for-12
with runners in scoring position, and they left 12. Plus, they made
the uncharacteristic three errors in the field.
All of that combined to take a victory away from Orioles starter
Kevin Gausman, who allowed just two runs on three hits in seven
innings. The right-hander retired 17 in a row and 19 of the last 20
batters he faced as the Twins did not get a hit after the first
inning until Dozier's single in the ninth.
Gausman's inning of trouble has been the first, and that problem
continued in this game. He retired the first two batters before
designated hitter Joe Mauer doubled, and third baseman Miguel Sano
belted a two-run homer to right for the quick 2-0 lead.
The Orioles threatened against Twins starter Mike Pelfrey several
times early but couldn't break through until second baseman Jonathan
Schoop lined his two-out RBI single to right in the third. That cut
the lead to 2-1 before Baltimore finally took the lead with another
two-out rally in the fifth.
Designated hitter Steve Clevenger's two-out double moved center
fielder Adam Jones to third -- he would have scored had the ball not
bounced into the stands -- before Schoop ended Pelfrey's day with a
two-run single that gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead that held up until
the ninth.
"We want to play better and win some of these games, especially
these one-run games where we normally feel we have a good shot,"
Britton said. "I think the biggest thing is they took advantage of
things. That's what a team that's playing well does."
NOTES: SS J.J. Hardy was not in the starting lineup Sunday so he
could rest his ailing left groin. The Orioles are hoping that Hardy
can be back in the starting lineup for the first game of their big
road trip on Monday at Kansas City. He did come in for defense in
the ninth. ... The Orioles are 38-6 record when C Caleb Joseph
drives in a run, and 18-2 if the knocks in two or more. ... LHP Glen
Perkins (neck) felt fine after throwing a 25-pitch bullpen session
before Sunday's game. Manager Paul Molitor said before the game
that, if everything is good, that they'd look at being able to use
their closer on Tuesday, but the Twins needed to go to him in the
11th inning of Sunday's contest, and he got the win. ... This was
Twins C Chris Herrmann's 57th career start behind the plate. He's
also started in right (36 games), left (17) as DH (three) and at
first base (two).
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