Twins beat Orioles 8-5

MINNEAPOLIS  — One night after its bullpen struggled mightily, the Minnesota Twins got a stellar performance from a different group of nonstarters.

Brian Duensing pitched two innings of scoreless relief, Casey Fien got two outs and Jared Burton earned his first save with a perfect ninth as the Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-5 Saturday night.

Ryan Doumit homered and Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau each had three hits for the Twins.

Vance Worley struggled through 5 1-3 innings, but earned his first win in 13 starts dating to Aug. 1, 2012.

Baltimore got within 6-5 in the sixth to chase Worley, and had runners on first and second when Duensing came into the game. The left-hander promptly got Nick Markakis to ground into a double play to end the threat.

“That kind of turned the momentum back in our direction,” Duensing said. “With that team, momentum can be troublesome. They’re a good offensive team.”

Josh Roenicke gave up three runs late in Friday’s game and Anthony Swarzak allowed three in the 10th inning as Baltimore overcame a six-run deficit to win 9-6.

“I think just for confidence for the whole group out there to do what we did tonight was real important,” Duensing said.

Fien got the final two outs of the eighth inning and Burton retired the Orioles No. 2-4 hitters — Manny Machado, Markakis and Adam Jones — for a perfect ninth. Minnesota’s normal closer, Glen Perkins, was unavailable with left side soreness.

“Burty told me last night after the game that he’s feeling really good, he feels like he’s found his pitches and the ball is coming out of his hand real good,” manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Doumit hit his third home run of the season in the sixth, a two-run shot into the second deck in left field to give Minnesota a little breathing room at 8-5.

Worley (1-4) gave up 11 hits and five earned runs. He struck out one but threw 111 pitches.

He left balls up in the zone and was hit hard in the opening frame when Baltimore took a 3-0 lead. Machado and Jones had doubles, and Markakis and Chris Davis had RBI singles in the inning. Matt Wieters added a sacrifice fly to deep left-center.

“After that I went out there and I wasn’t thinking so much,” Worley said. “I’m here for a reason. I got to the big leagues pitching and I don’t need to think too much about what I need to do out there, just make my pitches.”

He got out a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by getting J.J. Hardy to fly out, and allowed an RBI single in the sixth before being pulled.

“I’m just glad (Duensing) came in and finished it for me,” Worley said.

Making his season debut for the Orioles, starter Steve Johnson (0-1) cruised through the first two innings, before he began to get behind in counts and the Twins took advantage.

Trailing 4-2 and with two outs in the fourth, Brian Dozier laced a two-run double into the left-field corner to tie it. After an intentional walk to Mauer and a walk to Doumit, Morneau lined a two-run single over the shortstop for a 6-4 lead.

“I couldn’t get a good feel for my pitches,” said Johnson, who was optioned back to Triple-A after the game. “I couldn’t get my secondary stuff over. I started off all right, but I couldn’t make a pitch to get out of that inning. It’s unfortunate that the team gives you that lead they gave you to not being able to make a pitch and limit the damage. It’s not good.”

Johnson, who was 4-0 with a 2.11 ERA in 12 games (four starts) for Baltimore last season, hoped to make the Orioles as the team’s fifth starter out of spring training, but strained his right lat muscle in late-March. In three Triple-A rehab starts, the right-hander was 1-1 with a 4.41 ERA.

In four innings, he allowed seven hits and six earned runs while striking out three. However, he walked four batters and just 48 of his 88 pitches were strikes.

“Steve came out, hot and ready to go, started out really well, just couldn’t maintain it,” manager Buck Showalter said. “The first two innings, same type of approach (as last year). He’s got some late life on his fastball. The curveball wasn’t really there like it normally is. He got some outs with his changeup, but he then he elevated some that hurt him.”

Trailing 3-0, Eduardo Escobar doubled leading off the bottom of the third and scored on a double by Mauer. It was the 600th career RBI for Mauer, who scored on Morneau’s single.

Wieters homered in the fourth for a 4-2 Baltimore lead.

NOTES: With Johnson being sent down, the Orioles will make a corresponding roster move Sunday. … Johnson is the ninth pitcher to start for Baltimore this season, tying the Orioles with the Los Angeles Dodgers for most in the majors. … To make room for Johnson on the roster, Baltimore optioned RHP Alex Burnett to Triple-A Norfolk. … With Twins LF Josh Willingham getting the day off, Doumit hit third for the first time since Sept 16, 2011, when he was with Pittsburgh. … Wei-Yin Chen (2-3, 3.40) is scheduled to start for Baltimore on Sunday against Scott Diamond (3-2, 3.03).

 

Orioles shut out Twins 1-0

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Even when the sun is shining and the crowd is in a festive mood, Target Field is just no place to be for Scott Diamond.

The Minnesota lefty is 3-0 in his trio of road starts this season, but fell to 0-3 at home on Sunday after Chris Davis, Adam Jones and Steve Pearce homered for the Baltimore Orioles in a 6-0 victory.

“I got eaten alive out there today,” Diamond said.

Diamond (3-3) was looking for his fifth straight quality start. But he struggled through 5 2-3 innings, allowing nine hits and tying a career high by giving up six earned runs.

“I felt good in the ‘pen. I felt like everything was down and I was locating. Then when I got out on the mound, the first two batters got decent hits off me. I know I’m not going to be at my best every game, so I’m just trying to make adjustments. It just wasn’t clicking for me. So this game’s more of a write-off.”

Nick Markakis and Manny Machado began the game with singles and after Jones grounded into a double play, Davis unloaded a 442-foot shot to straightaway center field. His 11th homer made it 2-0.

Wei-Yin Chen pitched five strong innings before leaving with a strained right oblique, and the Orioles won for the sixth time in eight games.

Chen (3-3) was breezing through the Twins lineup, allowing no runs and five hits while striking out three in five innings. He has allowed no more than three runs in seven of his eight starts this year.

Tommy Hunter, Darren O’Day, Brian Matusz and Pedro Strop combined for four innings of three-hit relief for Baltimore.

“Scotty was basically up, couldn’t get the ball down,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “They jumped him early in the count and never let him get into any kind of pattern, and every time he got one up they seemed to make him pay for it.”

Chris Snyder had an RBI single in the second, but ended the inning when he was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a double by Markakis.

Markakis went 2 for 4 and is hitting .519 (27 for 52) against Minnesota since the start of last season. It is the highest average by any major league hitter with at least 40 plate appearances against any opponent in that span.

“We’ve been swinging the bats well the last few days, and it feels good to win a game by a pretty good margin,” Davis said. “It takes a little bit of pressure off the bullpen and really lets us enjoy the win.”

Markakis also had an outfield assist in the second, throwing out Justin Morneau, who tried to stretch a single into right into a double.

Jones lined a solo home run to left in the third, with the ball ricocheting off a railing just over the wall and up into the second deck.

Baltimore loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but could only push across one run — on Davis’ groundout — to make it 5-0. Pearce hit a solo homer in the sixth.

“It’s just one of those games. It happens,” said Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe, who went 0 for 4. “Through a 162-game season, you’re going to have one of those games where you don’t get runners on board and you dont score them.”

Four times in the first five innings, Minnesota’s leadoff man singled, but the Twins failed to score. Brian Dozier was caught stealing, Morneau was thrown out by Markakis, Joe Mauer was stranded at first and Plouffe stuck at second.

NOTES: Minnesota was shut out for the second time this season. … The Twins have allowed 37 first-inning runs, more than double any other inning total. … Twins SS Pedro Florimon missed his third straight game with a tight right hamstring. … Minnesota’s Pedro Hernandez (1-0) is scheduled to face Chicago’s Hector Santiago (1-1) when the Twins and White Sox start a three-game series Monday in Minnesota. … Baltimore’s Chris Tillman (3-1) is scheduled to get the ball Tuesday when the Orioles welcome San Diego to Camden Yards. Andrew Cashner (2-2) is the Padres’ scheduled starter.