The Minnesota Twins can be aiming for a season sweep of six video games with the Baltimore Orioles when the groups meet Thursday afternoon.
The Twins personal a 10-game successful streak — the longest within the main leagues this season — after sweeping a doubleheader in Baltimore on Wednesday.
“Simply all-around good baseball,” mentioned Minnesota infielder Kody Clemens, who belted a go-ahead dwelling run within the eighth inning of Recreation 2. “We belief each other on the plate and move the baton to every man. Simply rallied all day.”
Minnesota, which gained three video games final week at dwelling in opposition to Baltimore, prevailed 6-3 and 8-6 within the doubleheader that was contested after a weather-related postponement on Tuesday.
The Orioles have misplaced eight of their final 10 video games.
“You come again (Thursday) and you have got a day recreation,” Orioles supervisor Brandon Hyde mentioned. “We have got to place (Wednesday) behind us. It was a protracted day, a very disappointing day. We have got to flush it and are available again (Thursday).”
The Orioles have dipped to a season-worst 11 video games beneath .500. They aren’t responding in clutch conditions, as they stranded 16 runners on Wednesday.
Of their 15 whole hits within the twin invoice, Gunnar Henderson had 4 of them and Ryan Mountcastle had three.
Minnesota scored 14 runs within the doubleheader, with 5 of these within the eighth and ninth innings as there was slippage from the Baltimore bullpen.
“Groups are getting hits in opposition to us in huge spots and we’re having a troublesome time doing that,” Hyde mentioned.
Clemens joined the Twins in late April, and he’s hitting .227 with two homers and 6 RBIs along with his new membership.
“Get a great pitch to hit and ensure I get my ‘A’ swing off,” he mentioned.
Baltimore will ship right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (4-2, 2.72 ERA) to the mound on Thursday, hoping he can repeat the kind of outing he had Friday in a victory in opposition to the Los Angeles Angels. He gave up one run on three hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Sugano has but to face the Twins in his profession. He labored at the very least seven innings in three of his eight begins and did not allow a stroll in any of these video games, although he has issued at the very least one stroll in his different 5 begins.
Chris Paddack (1-3, 4.76 ERA) can be charged with extending Minnesota’s successful streak. The precise-hander’s finest and longest outing of the season got here Friday in opposition to the San Francisco Giants, when he yielded only one run and three hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Paddack is 2-1 with a 6.19 ERA in three profession begins masking 16 innings in opposition to the Orioles. He did not pitch within the collection final week in Baltimore.
The Orioles scored in solely two of the 18 innings of the doubleheader, in order that they bunched their runs however did not have far more.
“We have had a troublesome time including on,” Hyde mentioned. “We have talked about that loads. I assumed we created quite a lot of visitors each video games. The massive hits have been robust to come back by for us (aside from Cedric Mullins’ grand slam within the nightcap).”
The Twins might need lineup changes on Thursday. First baseman Ty France missed a recreation for the primary time this yr when he sat out the second half of the doubleheader attributable to a bruised proper foot. He exited the primary recreation shortly after fouling a ball off the foot.
Within the second recreation, Minnesota outfielder Harrison Bader left attributable to groin tightness. Neither France nor Bader is anticipated to overlook a prolonged stretch.
–Discipline Degree Media