One of the reasons Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez had a record of only 6-7 on the year coming into this game is because he has not gotten much help from the offense this season whenever he pitches. Tonight he got more than a little help from the batting lineup earning the win as the O’s defeat the Twins 9-1. Gonzalez finished the night only giving up one run and pitching seven innings which is the longest he has gone in a game since July 22nd.
Baltimore first started to rack up runs when Chris Davis hits his second and the Orioles fifth grand slam in the fourth and has now had an RBI in four of the last five games on the home stand. Left fielder Delmon Young also showed us tonight why he’s hitting .300 against teams in the A.L. Central going 1-for-4 which includes a two-run homer in the fifth that was almost called back due to fan interference. Nick Markakis extended his hit streak against Minnesota to 14 games tonight going 1-for-4.
Twins rookie starter Trevor May despite striking out a season-high eight batters, earned the loss tonight pitching four and two-thirds of an inning, giving up another season-high eight runs on six hits and hitting two Oriole batters in a row in the fourth. May still has yet to record his first major league win this season. Two Twins tonight extended their hit streaks tonight; Brian Dozier keeps his at seven games and Jordan Schafer at nine games.
Infielder Jimmy Paredes made his Orioles debut tonight after Steve Pearce left the game after the third inning with a right abdominal strain. Paredes, who was acquired by the O’s from Kansas City back on July 24th, was just called up from the minors Thursday and got his first hit as an Oriole at his first at-bat in the fourth inning. Later on in that inning he would score his first run as an Oriole from third on bases loaded walk to J.J. Hardy.
Game two of this four game series will be Saturday at 7:05 pm/ET. Probables for the game will be Kyle Gibson (MIN 11-10 4.31) vs. Chris Tillman (BAL 11-5 3.41).