MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Baltimore got all its offense in the second inning, Tyler Wells threw six solid innings and the Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 Saturday.
Adam Frazier had two RBIs for Baltimore, which had all its hits and runs in the second en route to its fourth straight win.
“Baseball, I guess,” Frazier said.
Donovan Solano had three doubles for the Twins, who finished 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and are 1 for 17 in the past two games.
Winning for the first time in four starts, Wells (7-4) allowed six hits and struck out four in his eighth straight start without allowing more than two earned runs. The right-hander has gone at least five innings in his first 18 starts this season, the first Oriole to do that since Mike Mussina in his first 24 starts of 1994.
“Today was a testament to kind of how the last few starts have gone for me, just grinding, battling, giving up some base hits here and then walking a couple guys. But I’m taking the bright side out of this one and say that I didn’t give up a home run,” said Wells, who allowed seven round-trippers in his previous four starts.
Twins starter Sonny Gray (4-3) had his winless streak extend to a dozen starts since April 30 with his worst statistical outing of the season.
Or, more accurately, one poor inning.
Gray, who allowed two hits in six shutout innings last Sunday in Baltimore, gave up a season-high six earned runs and six hits. All came in the second, when the first seven Baltimore batters reached.
Ryan O’Hearn, Austin Hays and Aaron Hicks singled, Colton Cowser walked on four straight pitches, and Ramón Urías walked on a full count before a two-run single by Frazier made it 4-1. Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander added RBI singles.
“We didn’t hit the ball extremely hard, but we put the ball in play and used the whole field, opposite-field hits. Had him on the ropes,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said.
“Baseball. It’s just baseball. What, maybe one of those balls was hit hard? There were a couple of ground balls that found a hole. There were a couple of bloopers that carried just over the infield. Obviously, you want the two walks back,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said.
In the other five innings against Gray, Baltimore went down in order four times, and sent just three men to the plate in the other because of a double play.
“I was happy to, after the way that inning went, to go out there and put up four zeros. That inning just escalated on us quickly,” Gray said.
100-STRIKEOUT CLUB
Wells has 103 strikeouts, the third Orioles pitcher to reach triple digits before the All-Star break since 2008. Dylan Bundy had 113 in 2018 and Jason Hammel 101 in 2012.
ANOTHER ALL-STAR
Minnesota starter Pablo López was added to the All-Star roster. It’ll be his first time in the Midsummer Classic. He is 5-5 with a 3.89 ERA in 18 starts and has 138 strikeouts.
“I can’t remember the last time I didn’t watch an All-Star Game, starting when I was little. It’s probably one of my favorite things to watch. Back when I was growing up, I used to watch it telling myself, ‘I want to be there someday,’” he said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Orioles: CF Cedric Mullins was given the day off. … Hays, selected as an All-Star starter Friday, returned to the lineup after being out since Sunday with a left hip contusion.
UP NEXT
Baltimore will go for a three-game sweep Sunday with RHP Kyle Gibson (8-6, 4.73 ERA) taking the hill against his former team. RHP Joe Ryan (8-5, 3.42) is the scheduled Minnesota starter.
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