Miguel Gonzalez has short night after long delay as Twins hammer O's

It started out well for Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez. He retired the side in order on 11 pitches to start tonight's game. But before the second inning was over he trailed by five and lasted just five innings as the Minnesota Twins hammered the Orioles 15-2 at Camden Yards.

The Twins are 4-0 this year against the Orioles. They began tonight with a record of 13-22 since they completed a three-game sweep of the Orioles in Minnesota from July 6-8.

Tonight's game started at 9:36 p.m. after the crowd waited out a rain delay of 2 hours and 31 minutes.

Gonzalez allowed eight hits and seven runs with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 96 pitches as he falls to 9-9 with an ERA of 4.73. In 11 starts since he came off the disabled list in late June, he has an ERA of 6.48. His ERA is 7.82 his last five starts and he has pitched 5 1/3 or fewer innings in nine of his last 12 outings.

The first six hitters reached against him in Minnesota's five-run, five-hit second inning. The Twins lead grew to 7-0 when Miguel Sano hit a two-run homer in the fifth. Trevor Plouffe added a two-run double in the seventh off Jason Garcia. The Twins scored five in the eighth off T.J. McFarland. The Twins had 18 hits, eight different players drove in runs and they went 9-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

Twins right-hander Tyler Duffey, making his third big league start, took a shutout into the eighth and gave up 10 hits and two runs over 7 2/3 innings. The Orioles got RBI singles in the eighth from Gerardo Parra and Caleb Joseph.

The Orioles are 62-58 with their second loss in seven games on this homestand. They are 37-22 at home and remain five games behind division-leading New York which lost 3-2 against Cleveland.

In the second game of this series on Friday night, Wei-Yin Chen (7-6, 3.20 ERA) pitches against left-hander Tommy Milone (6-3, 3.65 ERA).

On the farm tonight: Single-A Frederick right-hander Mikey O'Brien pitched a seven-inning no-hitter as Frederick won 2-0 at Lynchburg. It was the Keys' first no-hitter since June 30, 2010, when Nathan Moreau no-hit Salem.

The 25-year-old right-hander was signed by the Orioles on May 30, just days after he was released by Tampa Bay. Tonight he walked one and fanned nine, improving his record to 3-4 and lowering his ERA to 1.76.

O'Brien had not allowed an earned run over his previous two starts for the Keys. Now he has gone three consecutive start and 19 1/3 innings without allowing a single earned run.