A five-run third inning helped to lift the Baltimore Orioles to an 11-5 Grapefruit League win over the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday night at Hammond Stadium.
Twins starter Mike Pelfrey gave up two earned runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings. Jared Burton came on in relief and gave up three more runs before getting out of the inning.
“The biggest thing tonight was I didn’t throw enough strikes,” Pelfrey said after the game. “I was kind of all over the place. But it’s still early. And physically, I felt good.”
The big third inning spoiled the Twins early lead, it was the first of two five-run innings in the game.
Minnesota had just scored three in the bottom of the second. An infield single by Trevor Plouffe scored Josh Willingham, then Kurt Suzuki and Alex Presley followed with RBI singles to put the Twins on top 3-0.
But the lead was short-lived, as in the top of the third, Baltimore’s Quintin Berry hit an RBI double chasing Pelfrey from the game. After a run scoring single scored Berry, Johnny Monell launched a three-run homer off of Burton to put the Orioles up 5-3.
It was the first of two five-run innings for the Orioles on the night.
The Twins will host the Cardinals on Thursday, Ricky Nolasco is set to make his second start of the spring, for Minnesota.
