The Minnesota Twins got rolling early and made their 8-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles look easy at Target Field Tuesday night.
Minnesota took the lead in the first inning on an RBI double from Trevor Plouffe, which was followed by Miguel Sano’s first Major League home run.
Miguel Sano's first career homer left the bat at 108 mph and went 396 feet, per Statcast data. He also has a hit in all 6 games he's played.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) July 8, 2015
Sano was batting cleanup for the first time in his career. In his first at bat went deep against Baltimore starter Kevin Gausman (1-1).
Sano had a big night, going 2-for-3 at the plate with the home run and three RBIs. He now has a hit in all six Major League games he’s played. But he wasn’t alone. The Twins totaled 11 hits. Joe Mauer was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, while Kurt Suzuki was 3-for-4 with an RBI.
The Twins struck for four more in the fourth inning to take commanding 8-0 lead.
That was more than enough run support for Kyle Gibson (7-6). He didn’t have his best night, but it was good enough – holding the Orioles to two runs in six innings of work, while striking out seven.
Baltimore’s only runs came on a two-run homer by former Twins shortstop J.J. Hardy. In the eighth Adam Jones doubled off the top of the center field fence to drive in another run.
But that was all the Orioles could muster as Twins’ relievers Brian Duensing, J.R. Graham and newcomer Ryan O’Rourke held the Orioles to one run over the final three innings.
Tommy Milone (4-1) is on the mound for the Twins Wednesday afternoon as Minnesota looks for the series sweep against Ubaldo Jimenez.
