Alex Cobb on his struggles and other notes after Friday's loss

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Twins went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position last night. But it didn't matter, because the Twins hit five homers and got a solid starting pitching performance. The Orioles didn't homer and right-hander Alex Cobb struggled again.

Cobb said he felt fine physically. That was even after he took a spill on the mound trying to field a grounder up the middle in the last of the first. But after that spill, Minnesota hit three straight homers off him to start the night.

Last Saturday, Cobb allowed three homers versus the Twins to tie his career-high. Last night he gave up four to exceed it.

The Twins posted a series-opening 6-1 win Friday night at Target Field as Cobb falls to 0-2 with a 10.95 ERA over three starts. He has covered just 12 1/3 innings in those games, allowing 21 hits, 15 earned runs and nine homers. His last two starts have come against Minnesota and the combined stat line shows 6 2/3 innings, 14 runs, seven homers. Yikes.

He began the year on the injured list with a right groin strain and went back on the IL with a lumbar strain. He's been hurt and his ERA is hurting as well.

Cobb has been trying to shake off rust and obviously hasn't done it yet.

"Every throwing session, every bullpen, every game that you're involved in, you're learning from, you're getting information back from, and you're trying to make adjustments constantly throughout a season. And I have major adjustments to make right now. But those will start zeroing in as time goes on. It's an awful feeling walking off the mound having your team in that big of a hole that early," he said after an 81-pitch game.

Cobb has not been able to overcome two early season trips to the IL.

"I mean, it's directly related to it," he said. "I was feeling in good form before I left the mound for that long. That stinks, and it's something that you have to fight through the physical struggles of being able to do what you want to do and also work on your mechanics and your mindset of what you're trying to do on the mound. So there's a lot going on there, but before all this, I was feeling pretty happy with where I was at, so it was unfortunate timing for when it happened. But it doesn't matter. You've gotta take what the season is giving you and deal with it, so I'll figure out a way."

Said manager Brandon Hyde: "I just think he needs reps, he needs to be out there. He needs game situational stuff. I just think he's frustrated. He's not where he wants to be, so its frustrating for him. We believe in him and there is still a long way to go."

Cobb's short outing was followed by a solid long relief outing by Gabriel Ynoa. He allowed one run over 3 1/3 innings on 53 pitches. So Hyde didn't burn through his bullpen against a team that is 4-0 against the Orioles and has hit 16 homers in those games.

"Big time, big time," Hyde said Ynoa. "Kept our bullpen fresh. That is what a long guy does. He did a really nice job of allowing some guys to continue to get some rest, not pitch in a game like that. I thought he threw the ball really well."

Mancini still mashing: Who leads the American League in hits? It's the Orioles' Trey Mancini, who added three more last night and now has 38. It was his team-leading 11th multi-hit game and fourth game of three hits which included his 11th double.

Hard for Mancini to be off to a much better start. He's batting .412 (14-for-34) during an eight-game hitting streak and hitting .349 for the year.

"I mean, I didn't really think too much about it at the beginning of the season," he said. "I just wanted to help contribute every night and I didn't want to think too long term. As far as personal goals, I don't want to set numerical goals. I just want to go out and try to put good at-bats together. If you do that, at the end of the year you'll be really happy with how you did personally.

"That is something I've learned. Not being too result-oriented and getting caught up in every at-bat. Because you can drive yourself crazy in this game if you do that. I try to take a step back and focus on the process. Things like pitch selection and just kind of calming myself down at the plate."

Final notes: The Orioles began last night leading the majors with 59 homers allowed while Minnesota was fifth in the AL with hitting 37. The Orioles had not allowed a homer in three of the previous four games, but then gave up five or more for the fifth time.

In the first inning, Minnesota's Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario and C.J. Cron went back-to-back-to-back against Cobb. The last time Minnesota hit three straight homers was June 26, 2016 at Yankee Stadium when Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe and Max Kepler did it.

Minnesota's 14-9 start is its best after 23 games since the 2010 team went 15-8. The Twins have 98 extra-base hits among 211 hits. Their 46.4 percent extra-base-hits leads the majors.

Dwight Smith Jr. is now hitting .345 (10-for-29) with three doubles and home run against left-handers. Jonathan Villar went 2-for-4, scoring the lone O's run and is 6-for-17 (.353) versus the Twins in 2019.