Homestand ends with a thud as Twins bomb O's, 10-4

After sweeping four from Texas heading into the All-Star break, the O's lost 10-4 to Minnesota Sunday afternoon to conclude a 2-8 homestand coming out of the break. The homestand was marked by poor starting pitching and the fact the O's scored two runs or less six times vs. the Blue Jays, Rays and Twins. Today, Jake Arrieta took the loss, falling to 3-3, 5.40. He was in trouble almost from the first pitch and gave up Jason Kubel's Grand Slam, his second of the year and the seventh of his career, in the third inning. Arrieta allowed five runs and seven hits over four innings, throwing 87 pitches. It was the second-shortest outing of his nine Major League starts. The ERA of O's starters on this homestand was 7.92. O's pitching allowed 64 runs in the ten home games. Mark Hendrickson gave up four runs in three innings following Arrieta, including back-to-back homers to Delmon Young and Jim Thome in the sixth. Young went 8 for 17 in the series, with two homers and 7 RBI as the Twins took three of four. The O's trailed 10-1 heading to the last of the ninth, but scored three times. They were outhit 19-10 on the day. Luke Scott went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles to continue his hot hitting. He is 13 for 27 (.481) in seven games since returning from the disabled list. The game was delayed by rain for an hour and five minutes in the last of the seventh. The O's fall to 18-33 at home, 16-28 under Juan Samuel and 31-67 after 98 games. The Orioles begin a seven-game road trip Monday night at Toronto with Brad Bergesen (3-8, 6.1) facing Brandon Morrow (6-6, 4.71). The Orioles are 10-32 in games vs. the AL East, including a record of 0-9 vs. the Blue Jays.