Twins 5, Orioles 2: Twins Complete Sweep of Orioles Thanks to Brooks Lee’s Late-Inning Heroics

Was on the road mostly and caught some of the game here and there on the radio , I did catch the 8th inning double by Lee  , 2 rbis   , happy for him that he came through in the clutch  and helping his team to a 5 game winning streak and sweep of Baltimore  ....

After the poor start o the season I never envisioned that we would get this close to 500 , yes we played a few poor teams , white Sox ,  angels and also the orioles  plus taking 2 from red Sox ...

Baltimore is in a funk scoring runs , they gets hits but can't seem to get runners in scoring position to cross the plate , Baltimore lost veterans Santander and their 1 year rental ace pitcher Burnes who I'm sure is missed ...

Never imagined Baltimore would be 10 games under 500 , I'm sure they will bounce back some but being in the east division they can't fall back any further  ...

Sweeeeep!

Man, I looove winning, you know? Like, it beats losin'?

Ober did a good job filling in for a sick Joe Ryan. Like seeing Larnach get a dinger. Team made the most of their 5 hits, and maybe it was a little satisfying getting the big knock against Cano. Bullpen is doing a nice job of run prevention during this streak. 

Nice response in last two series to the Cleveland disappointment.

Might get back to 500 way quicker than seemed possible even a week ago. Much work still to be done, though, as the schedule firms up.

Does this series mean the Twins won the Jorge Lopez trade??

I was at the game (my first in person this year). Sign of the times that I could snag a seat in row 11 of Box 6 for $33 (plus taxes and fees, of course). So fun to be close to our heroes in person! Three dimensions a lot better than looking at a screen.

As stated in the article, the Orioles had runners in scoring position seemingly in all five of Ober's innings. A sharp double play saved two runs at one point. Byron throwing a runner out at the plate was also crucial -- and it looked to us that he could easily have been called safe.

Ty France kept up his hitting prowess, and Larnach's home run was so important to morale in the stands. Buxton and Bader look fantastic. Carlos looked lost at the plate but gunned several runners down. His arm has not lost a bit of speed and precision.

Brooks Lee looked a bit unreliable a few times at second base (only one misplay was named an error) and struck out his first three times at bat (we could hear his "f*ck" clearly as he returned to the dugout after number three), so it was great to have him drive in those late runs to secure the game. 

It's amazing how quickly the TD writers post these stories! As a former copyeditor may I suggest two tiny corrections to the article - Ober allowed just one earned run (the other followed Lee's error) and Larnach's homer was in the bottom of the sixth.

Go Twins!

34 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Last, Lee seems to be hitting the ball with authority a couple times in at least every other game……..much better than once or twice per week.

Baseball Reference has the entire active roster with above league average exit velocity with the exceptions of Castro, Bader, and Keirsey Jr. So, maybe results continue to improve a bit.

Tell me that WPA means nothing without telling me WPA means nothing: Top 3 WPA: Brooks Lee .279, Ty France .144, Griffin Jax .105

Lee had a horrible day going until he hit that double, in fact the Orioles were ahead 2-1 until the 6th because of Lee....(and, believe it or not I am a big fan of Lee's...these advance metric stats not so much).

21 minutes ago, Verified Member said:

Many commenters want Baldelli fired. Derek Shelton of the Pirates just got fired. Does anyone think they will now go on to make the playoffs????

Chime in and be held accountable about the effectiveness of firing a manager to improve team performance.

Shelton is a victim of cheap ownership while Baldelli is..... never mind!!

Ober has 1.98 ERA since his disaster against the Cardinals...

Nice win. And Mickey Gasper just hit a 2 out, walk-off 3-run homerun in the bottom of the 9th propelling the Saints over the Bison 13-10.

5 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

So Brooks LEE gets the game-winning hit on the day we are introduced to Pope LEO. 

Coincidence? I think not.

I think I'm going to like this guy. 

Louis Varland has convinced the new Pope to go by the more formal and dignified Pope Leonardo. 

3 hours ago, GNess said:

I enjoy Bader's competitive mindset. He brings it.

He's kind of a 21st-century Dan Gladden, blond locks and all.

Might want to check those pitch totals on the bullpen usage chart.   Several are incorrect

No hits for Buxton but still had a big influence on the result. BB, SB and R in the first, throws out the runner at the plate in the 6th and drew another big walk in the 8th, a crucial part of the 3 run inning. Very pleased to see him draw 2 walks and not strikeout at all, it's part of the game he needs to work on.

Can definitely see a firing or two in Baltimore soon, how they've become such a mess so quickly is shocking given the talent on that team. Giants will prove much tougher opposition so I'm quite pleased that we'll be sending out both Ryan and Lopez against them.

4 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Ober has 1.98 ERA since his disaster against the Cardinals...

I think he needs that first start of the season to be a horror show to focus him! Although this year was on Rocco as he sent him out with a virus.

Didn’t see the game but I bet it was fun watching Buck score from first on that double.