Orioles not letting defense rest (O's down 6-5)

The Orioles go into today's doubleheader ranked fifth in the American League in defense with a .986 fielding percentage. Their 10 errors are tied for the fifth-fewest after they committed 104 last season for the seventh-highest total in the majors.

The defense was in a steady decline over the past few summers, and anyone in charge was going to prioritize it.

"I think you've seen it so far this year. I think it's kept us in a lot of games and we've had a lot of close games," said manager Brandon Hyde.

"This isn't a team that's going to break any home run records, this isn't a team that's going to break any strikeout records. We're going to have to catch the ball. I look at last year's stuff this offseason, it was obvious to me that we had to make defense a priority to compete, so that was something we said early in spring training, and we've worked hard at it and I think our guys have done a great job so far and we're going to continue making it important."

The gloves are keeping Cedric Mullins and Rule 5 pick Richie Martin in the lineup while their bats remain in a deep freeze. Mullins is 5-for-56 this season and has one hit in his last 32 at-bats. Martin, who will be the starting shortstop in Game 2, has slashed .152/.250/.217 in 18 games. But they've managed to contribute in other ways.

"Middle-of-the-field defense, right? Obviously, you want to be strong in the middle of the field, and they've both been playing well," Hyde said.

"Cedric's obviously off to a ... he's not swinging the bat the way he'd like, but he makes the game-saving play in Tampa (Thursday), so finding ways to contribute with your glove is important and we make it important. Richie's done that all year, really, being able to make the routine play. When you have guys that catch the ball, make the routine play and also have some range and athleticism to go along with it, it makes a huge difference.

"So I love the fact that we have some athletic guys in the middle of our field to be able to cover ground and help out our pitchers and keep us in games. And that's what we've done so far."

The Rays used a four-man outfield against the Orioles in the late innings of their series this week at Tropicana Field, twice employing it against Rio Ruiz, and Hyde is toying with the idea. He did it in spring training against the Yankees' D.J. LeMahieu.

"I think it's interesting, I think there's cool thought behind it and I understand why they did it," Hyde said. "I think it's something we're going to continue to talk about and we'll possibly experiment with."

There's a method to the defensive madness. Analytics play an integral role, with teams knowing where a hitter is liable to direct the ball on grounders and therefore making it less risky to put an extra man in the outfield.

"They don't spray the ball, so it's usually in this one area and you can kind of cover that, as well as a four-man outfield being able to take away that extra-base hit," Hyde said.

The Cubs did it twice last season against the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter while Hyde was bench coach.

"It was because he was driving the ball in the outfield from line to line and when he'd hit the ball on the ground it would only really be in one spot," Hyde said. "Because he was killing us we decided to just cover the outfield, and he bunted twice into it and got two hits. So we stopped doing that. But it's a variety of reasons.

"Against Rio, that was to keep away an extra-base hit. It's also a little mental, too. Rio noticed it, right? So you add a little thought to the hitter."

Bunting against the shift remains a tactic that Hyde encourages if it can be done.

"I don't want to force somebody to do it, but in that situation there I'm all in on it. I'm all in on anybody bunting against the shift," he said.

"I think there's times when it's not appropriate, but I think if they're going to take one side of the field away from you, I am 100 percent in if you feel comfortable. That being said, it's way harder to do than people think, and it's a skill that takes a while to learn.

"You have to think about this, too. A lot of times when a team is shifting a left-handed hitter, let's say, and they've got everybody on that side of the field, the majority of the time the guys that can command the ball are going to command the ball in and make you hit it into the shift. It's really hard to lay a drag bunt down on guys who can front-hip two-seam you or cut the ball in on you. You're not just going to get a two-seamer out over the plate for you to be able to do it easy. But if somebody wants to do it, I love it.

"It's something we practice, too, so I'll continue to encourage our guys to do that if the right situation calls for it."

Reputations can spread quickly if a hitter is successful bunting against the shift. Carpenter put everyone on notice.

"All you have to do is get it down once and it's on alert with everybody," Hyde said. "Now you do it twice and now you have to put that guy over there. The third baseman will be on the grass covering the six hole and not let you have it anymore."

Update: Eddie Rosario and Willians Astudillo hit back-to-back home runs off Dan Straily in the second inning to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.

Update II: Dwight Smith Jr. hit a two-run homer in the third and Renato Núñez followed with a shot into the Orioles bullpen for a 3-2 lead.

Update III: Rosario homered again in the fifth to tie the game 3-3.

Update IV: Byron Buxton's two-run double off Jimmy Yacabonis in the sixth gave the Twins a 5-3 lead. Nelson Cruz greeted Miguel Castro with an RBI single.

Update V: Pedro Severino homered in the sixth to cut the lead to 6-4.

Update VI: Trey Mancini doubled to score Chris Davis with two outs in the eighth. Twins 6, Orioles 5.