The Minnesota Twins ended the first half of the season on a rough note as they were booed off the field in a humiliating 15-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Twins got off to a good start when Carlos Correa led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk and later scored on Edouard Julien’s RBI double but former Twin and Baltimore starter Kyle Gibson retired the next 17 batters to turn the game.
Joe Ryan notched a season-high 10 strikeouts but his pitch count soared as he allowed a solo home run to Austin Hayes to lead off the top of the second inning and a two-run home run to Ramon Urias in the top of the fourth inning that gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead.
Ryan only made it through 4.1 innings before turning over to the bullpen and that’s where things got out of hand. Ryan Moundcastle drove in a run on a single off Jovani Moran to make it 4-1 and Aaron Hicks smashed a three-run homer to put Baltimore up 8-1.
Cole Sands came into the game to start the top of the sixth inning but promptly gave up home runs to Adley Rutschman and Anthony Santander before allowing an RBI double to Cedric Mullins that gave Baltimore a 12-1 lead.
Urias and Gunnar Henderson each drove in runs with RBI singles to cap off a six-run sixth inning before Julien drove in the Twins’ second run of the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
That ball JUMPED off of Julien's bat ‼#MNTwins strike first pic.twitter.com/CtfvWXIX2V
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) July 9, 2023
The Twins’ offensive woes continued, however, as Gibson allowed two runs over seven innings with 11 strikeouts.
Byron Buxton went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts while Correa went 0-for-1 with a walk, a run scored and a strikeout. Donovan Solano went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts while Max Kepler went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and Joey Gallo went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
As you can imagine, Twins fans were not happy.
https://twitter.com/tjhartmanmusic/status/1678127820416098304
Summary of watching the @Twins in the first half. #MNTwins #thisishowwebaseball
Aww Hell Didly Ding Dong Crap!! (The Simpsons) https://t.co/l6e1Qr6lxj via @YouTube
— Jason Kenyon (@Kenyon880) July 9, 2023
3-5 days of the #MNTwins season: omg, this team is so back, time to roll
The next 3-5 days: season is over, I hate this team, we suck
The first half has been nothing but a terrible rollercoaster – cheers to it being over and to not having to watch this putrid team for 4 days!
— Megan (@mntwinsfan07) July 9, 2023
Cant tell whether #MNTwins batters need another 'team meeting' or to GTH away from each other for four days.
"Neither. Just swing the bats like professionals instead of distracted underachievers" is also an acceptable — and probably preferred — option.
— Howard Sinker (@afansview) July 9, 2023
But who's counting, right? pic.twitter.com/9zvDWuxVUE
— Melissa Berman (@Melissa_Berman) July 9, 2023
The Twins will now head into the All-Star Break at 45-46, 0.5 game back of the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the American League Central.
