Minnesota Twins 2
Baltimore Orioles 4
The Minnesota Twins were swept in their season-opening series for the second straight year as they fell to the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 Thursday night in Baltimore.
1. Hughes hits the wall in the 7th
Twins starter Phil Hughes (0-1) was cruising along Thursday night. Through six innings he had allowed just one Baltimore run on two hits and the Twins were leading 2-1.
Hughes thru 6 :
82 pitches
57 strikes
17/22 first-pitch strikes
17 fouls
4 sw/miss
2 3-ball counts
1 2-0 count
4 hits
0 BB
4 Ks#MNTwins— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) April 8, 2016
But the seventh was a completely different story. He gave up back-to-back hits to start the inning before the rain moved in, then after the rain Twins’ reliever Trevor May was not able to stop either from scoring.
2. Who is Joey Rickard?
That’s what the Twins are trying to figure out after the Rule-5 draftee from Tampa Bay burned them in all three games.
Rickard capped the series with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning giving the Orioles the all-important insurance run.
Rickard finished the series 5-for-11 (.455). Not a bad Major League debut.
Curtain call for Joey Rickard.
It's been that kind of series for the rookie (and the #MNTwins).
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) April 8, 2016
3. The whiffs
It’s hard to score runs when you are striking out. That was especially true for the Twins in this series, as Minnesota hitters fanned more than 10 times in each game of the three game sweep, including 12 times in Thursday night’s series finale alone.
Orioles reliever Darren O’Day closed the game and the series by striking out the side in order in the ninth on Thursday night for his first save of the season.
Tweet of the Night:
Lone bright spot?
WATCH: Joe Mauer hits solo home run in 1st inning, giving #MNTwins 1-0 lead. Catch the game live on @fsnorth! https://t.co/dPPzyEb3GM
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) April 7, 2016
Up Next:
Ervin Santana takes the mound for the Twins against Yordano Ventura as they open a weekend series in Kansas City against the Royals Friday night.
