The Twins have won three straight games for only the second time this season after they rallied again to beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4, on Tuesday. A win tomorrow and the Twins can claim their first sweep of the season.
Jose Berrios struck out seven over five-plus innings, allowing three runs, but only one run was earned because of an error. He also walked two batters, which probably explains why his pitch count grew to 106. Berrios and Orioles starting pitcher, Dean Kremer, appeared to both be upset with home plate umpire, David Rackley, and his strike zone on Tuesday.
Although the Twins fell behind early, they ultimately scored seven runs on 10 hits, getting six doubles out of Rob Refsnyder, Mitch Garver and rookie Alex Kirilloff. The man of the game, though, was Refsnyder who added a home run to those two doubles to drive in two. He also scored three runs.
Michael Pineda gets the ball on Wednesday.
Extra innings…
-Berrios and shortstop, Andrelton Simmons, again teamed up to pick off a runner at second base.
-Second baseman, Jorge Polanco, who had been day-to-day with ankle soreness was back in the lineup on Tuesday and he returned with a bang, hitting a home run in the second inning.
-Berrios is now 5-2 with a 3.76 ERA.
-Miguel Sano struck out four times.
-The Twins have one more game at home against the O’s, followed by a day off, then three against the Kansas City Royals before they hit the road to play Baltimore and the Royals all over again. Again, they have a great chance to get this season back on track before the Yankees and Astros arrive in mid-June. After that they head to Seattle and Texas, and then come home to play the Reds (the Reds can hit and score runs, but can’t pitch) and the Indians, a team the Twins know how to beat. They end the month in Chicago on the south side. It sure would be great to see the Twins sweep the White Sox.
-And then there was this…
The #MNTwins have won 14 in a row against Baltimore. Their longest win streak against a single team in club history is 17 (against Boston from 1965-66).
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) May 26, 2021