Twins at Orioles
The Minnesota Twins and the Baltimore Orioles are hoping for a little bit better from the weather and the bats when they play the second of a three-game, season-opening series at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Wednesday. Monday’s season opener suffered through two rain delays totaling 171 minutes before Matt Wieters’ walk-off single gave Baltimore a 3-2 victory.
The Twins and Orioles were certainly not alone among teams trying to sneak baseball games in during the unpredictable early April weather and made the most of it on Monday when Minnesota came back to knot it in the seventh inning before Wieters pushed Chris Davis across with the winning run. Both teams lost their starting pitchers after two innings due to the second rain delay and a total of 10 relievers were called upon to finish it out. The Twins are counting heavily on youngsters Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano this season and early returns were not very impressive as the two combined to go 0-for-7 with five strikeouts in the loss. Baltimore is leaning on the veterans and got a strong debut from Mark Trumbo, who went 4-for-5 while batting in the cleanup spot in the opener.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), MASN2 (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Kyle Gibson (2015: 11-11, 3.84 ERA) vs. Orioles RH Yovani Gallardo (2015: 13-11, 3.42)
Gibson has steadily improved since making it to the major leagues in 2013 and finished 2015 strong with three scoreless outings in his last seven starts. The former first-round pick out of Missouri spent the spring working to add pitches to his sinker-slider combination in order to build on last season’s performance, which included a career-high 194 2/3 innings pitched. Gibson has never lost to the Orioles (1-0, 2.70 ERA in three starts) and scattered two runs over 5 2/3 innings without factoring in the decision at Baltimore on Aug. 22.
Gallardo did not sign with Baltimore until after the start of spring training and reportedly agreed to a two-year contract with a team option for a third after a medical exam revealed a shoulder issue and forced the team to reconsider its original three-year offer. Despite whatever may be ailing Gallardo’s shoulder, the Mexican veteran has made at least 30 starts in each of the last seven seasons and helped the Texas Rangers to the playoffs in 2015. Gallardo is 2-2 with a 3.14 ERA in eight career starts against Minnesota.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins 1B Joe Mauer went 2-for-4 and SS Eduardo Escobar doubled twice in the opener.
2. Orioles CF Adam Jones doubled in a pair of runs in a 1-for-5 performance on Monday.
3. Minnesota RHP Kevin Jepsen, who was acquired at the trade deadline last season to set up for closer Glen Perkins, absorbed the loss with one run and two hits allowed in two-thirds of an inning.