Jimenez with rare loss in battle against Mauer (O's win 4-2)

Ubaldo Jimenez wasn't going to get the best of Joe Mauer in every at-bat. It just seemed that way.

The Twins' first baseman was 1-for-14 against Jimenez until tonight, when he homered to right-center field with two outs in the first inning to put the Orioles in an early hole.

Brian Dozier struck out and Danny Santana was thrown out trying to steal after reaching on an infield bunt single. Mauer stepped to the plate and spit on the odds.

Miguel Sano followed with a single, the third hit off Jimenez, before second baseman Jonathan Schoop ran down Trevor Plouffe's fly ball in shallow right field. Schoop also made a nice tag on Santana after taking a perfect throw from catcher Caleb Joseph.

Jimenez threw 21 pitches in the inning, 15 for strikes. He struck out Dozier by freezing him with a 76 mph curveball after throwing a splitter and three straight fastballs.

Eduardo Escobar lined a single into left field with one out in the second inning for the fourth hit off Jimenez. He raced to third on an error by first baseman Chris Davis, who let a sharp grounder from John Ryan Murphy deflect off his glove, and scored on Byron Buxton's grounder to short.

Buxton's ball eluded Jimeenz's glove as he stabbed at it. The run was unearned and left the Orioles trailing 2-0.

Jimenez has thrown 36 pitches, 26 for strikes, in two innings. Orioles starters have gone two and five innings in the first two games, with Chris Tillman's outing cut short due to rain.

Nolan Reimold punched a single into right field against the shift in his first at-bat of the season, the latest example of a player finding a way to beat the trendy defensive alignment. The Orioles saw lots of examples from opponents in Florida.

"I've said defenses caught up with the wishbone and the veer (offense) and things changed, but the game usually corrects itself with these shifts and what have you," said manager Buck Showalter. "I saw a lot of guys in the spring really letting the ball travel and try to block the ball the other way consciously on both teams.

"You always wonder whether it's going to carry over during the season, but don't sell these offenses short about making adjustments to some of the defenses that are going on. Just how many times are you going to hit that one-hop line drive to right field and be out at first?"

Reimold's hit came after Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard, batting leadoff tonight, worked Twins starter Phil Hughes for eight pitches before bouncing to the mound. He fell behind 0-2 in the count and worked it full.

Update: Hughes is shutting out the Orioles on three hits over five innings, including two from Reimold. They had runners on the corners with no outs in the fourth and didn't score.

Jimenez escaped the same jam in the third. He retired eight in a row and 11 of 12, allowing two runs (one unearned) in six innings. No walks, seven strikeouts. He threw 90 pitches, 64 for strikes.

Dylan Bundy will replace Jimenez.

Update II: Manny Machado homered to left field with two outs in the sixth to cut the Twins' lead to 2-1.

Jimenez came back out for the top of the seventh and finished the inning at 106 pitches, 75 for strikes. He's allowed two runs (one earned) and eight hits, with no walks, nine strikeouts and a home run.

Brian Matusz allowed a home run, walked a batter and struck out two in the sixth inning at Double-A Bowie.

Update III: Bundy is making his first appearance in the majors since Sept. 25, 2012 versus the Blue Jays, and he's trying to protect a 3-2 lead in the eighth.

Mark Trumbo and J.J. Hardy singled before a 21-minute rain delay. Trevor May replaced Hughes, and a wild pitch and Schoop single into center field wiped out the Twins' lead.

Update IV: Joey Rickard led off the bottom of the eighth with his first major league home run, and he finally came to the top step of the dugout and waved as fans kept chanting his name. It took a while, but he did it.

Dylan Bundy worked a scoreless top of the eighth, allowing a single and getting back to the dugout after Joseph threw out another runner trying to steal.

Update V: Darren O'Day strikes out the side and gets the save in the Orioles' 4-2 win, which completes a three-game sweep to start the 2016 season.

The Orioles have won eight in a row dating back to last season.