O's game blog: Dan Straily will try to slow Twins bats

MINNEAPOLIS - The Orioles play the second game of their three-game series and six-game road trip this afternoon at Minnesota. The Twins hit five homers and won 6-1 last night at Target Field.

Minnesota (14-9) is off to its best 23-game start since the 2010 team went 15-8. Their best-ever start at this point of a season was 17-6 in 2001. The Twins have hit 42 homers on the year, and 16 have come against Baltimore in four games. They've had games of three, eight and five homers this year versus the O's.

The Orioles (10-17) have lost seven of 10 and 12 of 17 games. They are 7-7 on the road. But they've lost 10 in a row to Minnesota since beating the Twins on opening day last year.

Right-hander Dan Straily (1-1, 8.59 ERA) will make his fifth appearance and third start as an Oriole. In 14 2/3 innings for the year he's allowed 21 hits and 14 runs. But Straily has pitched much better his last two games, which includes a start versus the Twins.

In his first two games with the Orioles, he gave up 10 runs over 4 2/3 innings. In his last two games, he has pitched to a 3.60 ERA. Over 10 innings he has yielded eight hits and four runs and a batting average against of .211 (8-for-38).

In Game 1 of a doubleheader last Saturday at Camden Yards, Straily went five innings, allowing six hits and three runs. He gave up three solo homers that day, two of them to Eddie Rosario. Willians Astudillo also took him deep.

In three career starts against Minnesota, Straily is 1-0 with a 3.06 ERA. In 17 2/3 innings he walked eight, fanned 15 and posted a WHIP of 1.132. In one career start at Target Field he went seven innings, allowing three hits and one run.

Right-hander José Berríos (3-1, 2.97 ERA), a 2018 American League All-Star, will make his sixth start of the new season. In 33 1/3 innings he has given up 23 hits and eight walks with 33 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.930. He averages 2.2 walks per nine innings and 8.9 strikeouts.

Berríos began the season throwing four straight quality starts, but did not record one when he faced the Orioles last Saturday afternoon. He got the win, but over six innings gave up eight hits and four runs. The Orioles hit three homers, with Dwight Smith Jr. connecting for a two-run shot and Renato Núñez and Pedro Severino adding solo home runs.

This year, lefty batters hit .208 against him and right-handers are batting .182. In two home starts he is 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA with two walks and 17 strikeouts over 14 1/3. The Twins are 4-1 in his five games.

The Twins' Nelson Cruz hit two homers last night for his 29th career multi-homer game. Over his last eight games against the Orioles, Cruz is batting .484 (15-for-31) with six homers and 10 RBIs.

The Orioles' Trey Mancini is hitting .349/.400/.615, and his 38 hits lead the American League and are second most in the majors, behind only Cody Bellinger's (LAD) 42. Mancini went 3-for-4 on Friday night with a double and two singles to extend his hitting streak to eight games. He's batting .412/.459/.559 (14-for-34) with five doubles, two RBIs, and five runs during the stretch. Mancini is hitting .500 (11-for-22) with two home runs, one double, and seven runs scored in the first inning.