Wieters walk-off: O's catcher singles home game-winner in ninth

A walk-off win on opening day. The Orioles overcame two rain delays today and beat a team they were winless against last year in the season opener.

Matt Wieters, who had been 0-for-4, singled with two outs in the last of the ninth to give the O's a 3-2 victory over Minnesota in front of a chilled sellout crowd of 45,785. Not too many were left at the end after nearly three hours of rain delays.

With two outs and none on in the ninth against right-hander Kevin Jepsen, Chris Davis drew a walk. He then went to third on Mark Trumbo's fourth hit of the day, a single (Trumbo went 4-for-5 in his O's debut). Wieters then lined a first-pitch single to center to give the Orioles the walk-off win.

The Orioles got solid performances today from a Rule 5 draft pick and a former 10th-round draft selection. Outfielder Joey Rickard, taken last December in the Rule 5 draft, went 2-for-4 and scored a run. Right-hander Tyler Wilson, drafted in round 10 in 2011, pitched three scoreless innings of relief of starter Chris Tillman and was in line for the win when the O's led 2-0.

Rickard helped the Orioles get the scoring started in the last of the fifth. He doubled to right against Casey Fien and went to third on Manny Machado's single. Both scored when Adam Jones doubled to right-center on the first pitch. His shot off the wall made it 2-0.

Rickard became the 27th Oriole since 1974 to get a hit in his first at-bat when he singled in the second inning. It was a nice moment for the Rule 5 selection, who got a big ovation.

But the Twins tied it 2-2 in the seventh off Mychal Givens with a one-out rally. Eduardo Escobar's RBI double made it 2-1 and a foul sac fly to left by Kurt Suzuki tied the game. Rickard made the catch while crashing against the stands.

Earlier, before the first delay, both starters went two innings each. Tillman was particularly strong as he retired all six batters he faced on 22 pitches, 17 for strikes. He got Brian Dozier to pop out to start the game and then fanned the next five batters. But neither he nor Ervin Santana returned after the first delay of 1 hour, 41 minutes.

The Orioles had gone 0-7 versus the Twins last year and were outscored 43-18 in the season series. They had lost eight in a row overall against Minnesota.

Baltimore is now 41-22 all-time on opening day and the Orioles have won six in a row since 2011. They are 13-3 on opening day since 2001.

In the second game of the season on Wednesday night, Yovani Gallardo pitches for the Orioles against Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson.