Another homer barrage for Minnesota in a win over the Orioles

MINNEAPOLIS - This time it took a while for the Minnesota Twins to mash homers, but they got around to it. They used two big swings in the sixth and seventh this afternoon to come from a run down to take a lead over the Orioles that they would not give up.

Then they turned the game into a blowout, winning 9-2 to post an 11th straight victory over the Orioles, dating to last season.

C.J. Cron blasted a two-run shot to left off reliever Paul Fry in the last of the sixth. That gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead. Max Kepler belted a two-run shot an inning later off Tanner Scott for a 5-2 advantage.

Minnesota mashed three more homers in the eighth off Jimmy Yacabonis to blow it wide open. Marwin Gonzalez hit one 436 feet, Jason Castro blasted one 441 and Kepler delivered a drive that went 433 feet. The Twins have hit 10 homers in this series, 21 in five games versus Baltimore pitching.

Cron's drive, at 113 mph off the bat, scored Nelson Cruz, who had doubled. It put the Twins in front for good. It was No. 5 for Cron on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Kepler hit a 2-1 slider off Scott for his fifth of 2019.

The Orioles played most of the game without Trey Mancini. He singled in the first for his American League-leading 39th hit, but exited the game shortly afterward with an apparent hand injury. Two pitches before Mancini blooped that single, it appeared he fouled a ball off his hand. He ran to first after the single that extended his hitting streak to nine games. But after a brief discussion at the bag, he came out of the game. He began today batting .349/.400/.615 with 11 doubles, six homers and 14 RBIs, and with a 1.015 OPS.

The Twins improved to 15-9 for the season. They are 5-0 against the Orioles this season, and are 16-3 versus Baltimore since 2017 and 25-8 dating to September 2014.

The Orioles have lost the first two games of this series and road trip to fall to 10-18 overall and 7-8 on the road. They are 3-8 over the last 11 games.

The Orioles broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the sixth. Stevie Wilkerson singled off the glove off Cron at first base. With no outs, he stole second. Two strikeouts later, Hanser Alberto's single to right gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead. Alberto entered the game in the first inning when he pinch-ran for Mancini and went 2-for-3.

The Twins had gone ahead 1-0 on an unearned run in the last of the third. O's starter Dan Straily made a two-base throwing error that gave Minnesota the lead. He fielded a Jason Castro grounder toward the first base line and tried to spin around and get a force at second. His bounced throw scored the game's first run.

The Orioles tied it with a two-out rally in the fourth. Renato Núñez doubled to right and scored on a single to right by Rio Ruiz. Ruiz smoked a grounder through the shift to tie it up with his 10th RBI.

Straily, making his fourth Baltimore start, did not allow an earned run. But he didn't get deep into the game either. He needed 89 pitches to negotiate four innings. He was at 32 pitches through two, but needed 28 in the third and 29 in the fourth. He gave up three hits and one walk while recording three strikeouts.

Over his past three games, Straily has pitched to a 2.57 ERA. Over 14 innings he has allowed 11 hits and four earned runs.

The Orioles will need a win on Sunday afternoon to avoid a three-game sweep by the Twins. Right-hander Dylan Bundy (0-3, 6.56 ERA) pitches opposite righty Kyle Gibson (1-0, 6.10 ERA).