Twins 7, Orioles 5: Twins Keep Punching Back in Series-Clinching Victory

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

 

Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 4 K (94 pitches, 60 strikes (64% strikes))
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Alan Roden (0.28), Josh Bell (0.17), Victor Caratini (0.12)
Win Probability Chart

The Twins entered Wednesday afternoon's series finale against the Orioles needing a win in the worst way. After dropping three straight series, Minnesota had to win the finale to avoid another series loss, and an early deficit against Baltimore made that task even more difficult.

For a while, it looked like the Orioles were going to make things even more uncomfortable. Zebby Matthews struggled to find his rhythm early, allowing Baltimore to build a 4-1 lead by the third inning while forcing the Twins to work from behind once again. But Minnesota responded immediately, putting together a four-run third inning and shutting down any Orioles’ momentum.

The Twins' offense finished with 14 hits, the pitching staff settled down after the early struggles, and Yoendrys Gómez worked out of a ninth-inning jam to secure a 7-5 victory. After another difficult stretch, this was exactly the type of win Minnesota needed.

THE TWINS ANSWERED EVERY TIME BALTIMORE SCORED
The biggest takeaway from Wednesday's game might’ve been how quickly the Twins responded whenever the Orioles grabbed control.

Baltimore opened the scoring in the first inning after Gunnar Henderson walked, Pete Alonso singled and Jackson Holliday reached on a fielder's choice. Minnesota answered immediately in the bottom half, with Trevor Larnach's smart baserunning helping him advance to second on Royce Lewis' deep flyout before Josh Bell brought him home with an RBI single.

Then the Orioles struck again. Dylan Beavers launched a three-run homer in the third inning, turning a 1-1 game into a 4-1 Baltimore lead. The pitch was a two-strike curveball that caught too much of the plate, and Beavers didn't miss it. But the Twins didn't let the deficit linger.

Lewis started the bottom of the third with a double before Bell singled to put runners on the corners. Kody Clemens followed with an RBI single, Brooks Lee kept the rally going with another hit, and Luke Keaschall brought home Bell with a sacrifice fly.

Victor Caratini then tied the game with an RBI single before Alan Roden smoked a ball off the wall in dead-center field, bringing home Lee and giving Minnesota a 5-4 lead. It was a four-run response to Baltimore's three-run inning, and it completely changed the game.

THE OFFENSE KEPT POURING IT ON
Once the Twins finally grabbed the lead, their offense didn't let up.

Minnesota entered the fifth inning with a one-run advantage, but Caratini and Roden quickly put pressure on Baltimore's bullpen. Caratini opened the inning with a long single off the wall in right before Roden followed with a double, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Trevor Larnach eventually grounded out, but Caratini scored on the play to extend Minnesota's lead to 6-4. Then Lewis came through again.

The Twins' shortstop ripped a splitter down the left-field line for his second double of the afternoon, driving in Roden and pushing the lead to 7-4. Bell finished with three hits, while Roden reached base four times and collected two hits. Lee added multiple hits of his own, and the Twins' lineup finished with 14 hits overall. After a tough night at the plate on Tuesday, Minnesota's offense broke out in a major way when it mattered most.

ZEBBY MATTHEWS BATTLED THROUGH A ROUGH START
Matthews certainly didn't have his best afternoon, but he deserves credit for settling down after a difficult start. The right-hander issued a leadoff walk to Henderson before Alonso singled, immediately putting runners on the corners. Baltimore took the lead on Holliday's fielder's choice, and Matthews needed 22 pitches just to get through the first inning.

Things didn't get much easier in the second. Matthews allowed a pair of two-out singles before finally escaping the inning, pushing his pitch count to 43 through two frames. Then came the three-run homer from Beavers in the third, which put Baltimore ahead 4-1 and brought Matthews to 67 pitches. At that point, Minnesota desperately needed him to find a way to settle down. Luckily, he did.

Matthews retired Baltimore in order in the fourth after allowing a leadoff walk, inducing a 6-4-3 double play in the process. He then worked a quick 1-2-3 fifth inning, exiting after 94 pitches with the Twins still holding a three-run lead.

It wasn't the most efficient outing, and the early command issues put the Twins in a difficult position. But Matthews kept the Orioles from doing any further damage after the third inning, allowing Minnesota's offense to take over.

THE BULLPEN SHUT THE DOOR
Once the Twins built their three-run lead, their bullpen did exactly what it needed to do. Andrew Morris entered in the sixth and immediately delivered a clean inning, striking out Dylan Beavers and Leody Taveras while getting Christian Encarnacion-Strand on a groundout.

Jeff Hoffman followed in the seventh. After striking out Christian Franklin and getting Carlos Narváez to fly out, Hoffman allowed consecutive two-out walks to Henderson and Alonso, bringing Holliday to the plate as the potential tying run.

That's when Kody Clemens made one of the biggest plays of the game. Clemens made a spectacular jumping catch at second base, preventing at least one run from scoring and allowing Hoffman to escape the inning without surrendering the lead.

AJ Minter then delivered a dominant eighth inning, needing only nine pitches to retire the Orioles. All nine pitches were strikes, and he struck out Encarnacion-Strand to finish the frame. That left the ninth to Gómez.

Things got interesting quickly. Taveras launched a leadoff solo homer to right field on the first pitch he saw from Gómez, cutting Minnesota's lead to 7-5. Franklin then worked a walk, putting the tying run on base with nobody out. But Gómez responded.

Pinch-hitter Colton Cowser lined a ball directly back at the right-hander, who caught it before doubling Franklin off first base. Henderson then grounded back to Gómez for the final out, securing the win.

After allowing Baltimore to repeatedly put pressure on them early, the Twins eventually settled in and took control. Their offense provided the big response every time the Orioles threatened, while the bullpen made sure the late lead held up. It won't erase the frustration of three straight series losses, but Minnesota avoided another series defeat and moved to 60-62 on the season.

More importantly, the Twins showed some of the fight that has been missing during their recent struggles. Baltimore landed the first punch, but Minnesota answered every time, and ultimately walked away with a much-needed series-clinching victory.

What’s Next?
The Twins will travel to Dyersville, Iowa to take on the Phillies in the 2026 Field of Dreams game tomorrow night. Taj Bradley will toe the rubber for the good guys, and he’ll face off against veteran right-hander Aaron Nola. First pitch is set for 6:30 PM on Netflix.

Postgame Interviews
Coming soon!

Bullpen Availability Chart 

 

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[DJL44]

Alan Roden increased his OPS from .490 to .614 in one game.

[90stwinskid]

Good to see Roden have a better day today.

 

Post-deadline: 4-5

Overall: 60-62

 

It ain't over till it's over!

 

 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Alan Roden increased his OPS from .490 to .614 in one game.

Add in a hit that was coded as an error,  and a game winning triple instead of a single and his OPS is close to .700.  

[Church of Kreidler]

I can't believe Kreidler didn't even get named in the article - just "the Twins shortstop..."

If you're going to disrespect Our Savior, at least use his full name!

[DJL44]

4 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Add in a hit that was coded as an error,  and a game winning triple instead of a single and his OPS is close to .700.  

Which is his AAA OPS minus 200 points….

[mnfireman]

6 minutes ago, Church of Kreidler said:

I can't believe Kreidler didn't even get named in the article - just "the Twins shortstop..."

If you're going to disrespect Our Savior, at least use his full name!

[1985Fan]

If they get decent pitching, they can stay relevant and in the playoff hunt. We’ll know if they still have a shot after Philly and Atlanta. If they can win those series, that sets up the home series with CWS & Tigers. Great to watch games that matter instead of tryouts for prospects/spring training games. 

[Parfigliano]

40 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Alan Roden increased his OPS from .490 to .614 in one game.

A star is born.

[tony&rodney]

36 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Which is his AAA OPS minus 200 points….

I think I saw you or someone else mention this in another thread. I thought it was interesting. I also wondered if poor fielders lost 200 point of OPS. When one considers the balls that leak, drop, or get in the gaps when poor defenders are in the field, it might make sense. Since you, in this case, identified a means of comparison between AAA and MLB, can you make a similar case that incorporates fielding to drop the OPS? Just wondering.

[Cris E]

54 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Alan Roden increased his OPS from .490 to .614 in one game.

If he keeps this up he could be at 2.000 by the end of the month!!11!one!!

 

[Sam Caulder]

53 minutes ago, Church of Kreidler said:

I can't believe Kreidler didn't even get named in the article - just "the Twins shortstop..."

If you're going to disrespect Our Savior, at least use his full name!

My deepest apologies, I meant no disrespect towards the Church of Kreidler

[DJL44]

1 minute ago, tony&rodney said:

I think I saw you or someone else mention this in another thread. I thought it was interesting. I also wondered if poor fielders lost 200 point of OPS. When one considers the balls that leak, drop, or get in the gaps when poor defenders are in the field, it might make sense. Since you, in this case, identified a means of comparison between AAA and MLB, can you make a similar case that incorporates fielding to drop the OPS? Just wondering.

Fielding should translate 1 to 1. Fielding chances are generally not more difficult in AAA. Fielders get about the same number of chances per game. Statcast is installed in AAA parks as well as the Florida State League. The overall spread in talent will be larger in the minors and the average fielder will be worse than the majors. 

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Fielding should translate 1 to 1. Fielding chances are generally not more difficult in AAA. Fielders get about the same number of chances per game. Statcast is installed in AAA parks as well as the Florida State League. The overall spread in talent will be larger in the minors and the average fielder will be worse than the majors. 

I guess I wondered if you would drop the OPS of several Twins and/or some Saints players who are less than average in the field. Say someone in MLB has a 750 OPS but is a poor fielder, does that (theoretically) drop the OPS to say 650?

[DJL44]

17 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

I guess I wondered if you would drop the OPS of several Twins and/or some Saints players who are less than average in the field. Say someone in MLB has a 750 OPS but is a poor fielder, does that (theoretically) drop the OPS to say 650?

I wouldn’t combine offensive stats and defensive stats like that. WAR would convert each to offensive and defensive runs above average. Fielders see a +/- of 25 runs versus average over the course of the season. 

[Vanimal46]

Fun game to see in person. They strung together a lot of hits. When Zebby gave up the 3 run bomb to make it 4-1 bad guys, I thought oh boy here we go again. It was great to see them rally back in the bottom half of the inning and take the lead! 

Also, Royce Lewis… hottest hitter in baseball 

[Coach]

"Look Ma, no hands" around his throat.  Great game Roden! 

[Peter]

Very important win!!! With Phillies/braves/padres upcoming this was huge!!! All joking aside-if we can go 6-6 or 7-5 I’ll be happy!!! I really think twins can steal division but August is a gauntlet if we can survive this then September will be intense!!! 

[tony&rodney]

47 minutes ago, Peter said:

Very important win!!! With Phillies/braves/padres upcoming this was huge!!! All joking aside-if we can go 6-6 or 7-5 I’ll be happy!!! I really think twins can steal division but August is a gauntlet if we can survive this then September will be intense!!! 

Go 5-4 or 4-5 in this next stretch of 9 games against tough opponents and then attack against the 3 versus the As and then the important  season-defining run where there are 15 games in a row versus AL Central foes.