The Orioles scored nine unanswered runs to come-from-behind and beat the Twins, 9-6 in ten innings at Target Field Friday night.
Leading 1-0 in the second, Joe Mauer singled on a 1-2 pitch to center field, scoring Ryan Doumit and Oswaldo Arcia.
Mauer led the Twins with a 3-5 night at the plate. He doubled twice, giving him 13 on the season — tied with Baltimore’s Adam Jones for the second most in Major League Baseball.
Doumit would make it a 4-0 game with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and the lead would grow to 6-0 in the fifth with an RBI double by Trevor Plouffe and a RBI groundout by Arcia.
Twins starter Mike Pelfrey cruised through the first five innings before getting roughed up in the sixth. The 6-foot-7 right-hander gave up three runs on four doubles in the inning, allowing the Orioles to cut the lead in half, 6-3.
Baltimore stayed hot at the plate in the seventh against Minnesota reliever Josh Roenicke. Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Chris Davis had run-scoring hits to tie the game, 6-6.
Anthony Swarzak took the loss, giving up three runs on four hits in the tenth.
Game two of the three game series is set for Saturday at 7:10 p.m. Vance Worley will start for the Twins against Baltimore’s Steve Johnson.
