It wasn’t much, but the Twins still strung together a sacrifice fly, a two-run home run and an RBI single and the men from Minnesota emerged with a 4-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday to even their record at 1-1 to start the 2026 campaign.
Starter Taj Bradley looked pretty good, striking out nine across four-plus innings with one run allowed, but he labored a bit with three walks, so he came out of the game at 92 pitches.
Five relievers delivered a clean sheet after Bradley left the game, including Cole Sands who closed out the win with his first save of the season.
The jitters about the bullpen are very real, however.
In Thursday’s season-opening 2-1 loss to the O’s, a potential pattern emerged which I know strikes fear in the heart of all Twins fans.
Starter Joe Ryan looked every bit the No. 1 arm in the rotation as he pitched five-plus scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He exited and was followed by relievers Kody Funderburk and Justin Topa who promptly allowed a run each and the Twins lost.
It almost happened again Saturday after Fundy allowed two hits and reliever Eric Orze walked a batter to load the bases. Still, Orze worked his way out of the jam without allowing a run.
“Orze comes in and the group he’s got to go through, and the way their lineup is so right-left based, and to be able to neutralize them, I thought, was outstanding,” Twins Manager Derek Shelton told MLB.com. “He’s a guy we know can use the split and we trust him against lefthanders and he showed that today.”
Bailey Ober gets the ball Sunday.
Extra innings…
–In fairness to the bullpen, they didn’t have much to work with in Thursday’s loss because the lineup went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
–Byron Buxton hit a triple in Thursday’s game and reportedly went from home to third base in 11.3 seconds. He’s still got it.
–Royce Lewis delivered the two-run blast on Saturday, the first of hopefully many for the third baseman. He also scored two runs, walked and stole a base.