MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson and Christian Encarnacion-Strand each had three hits and a home run on Tuesday night as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-2.
Brandon Young (9-3) gave up two runs, one earned, on six hits in six innings. Josh Walker and Yennier Cano each pitched a scoreless inning of relief and Andrew Kittredge retired the side in order in the ninth for his sixth save.
The Orioles (58-62) and Twins (59-62)
are both chasing a wild-card playoff spot, although Baltimore was a seller at the trade deadline and dealt starting pitcher Dean Kremer to the Twins. Kremer led Minnesota to a victory in Monday's series opener.
Bailey Ober (7-3) gave up five runs on eight hits over six innings and took his first loss since May 30 at Pittsburgh. He was 1-0 with four no-decisions in his previous five starts.
Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis each had two hits for the Twins.
Orioles catcher Yohel Pozo left in the third inning in obvious pain after he was struck by Josh Bell’s bat on the back of his left hand. Bell was awarded first base on catcher's interference.
Alonso hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his team-leading 26th, and Henderson's two-run shot in the second gave Baltimore a quick 4-0 lead.
The Twins loaded the bases with nobody out in the second, but all they could manage was Alan Roden's run-scoring groundout.
The Orioles got that run back on Encarnacion-Strand's blast to the second deck above the bullpens in left center, which traveled an estimated 460 feet — Baltimore's longest homer of the season.
Lee's RBI double made it 5-2 after three innings.
Orioles RHP Shane Baz (4-11, 3.76 ERA) faces Twins RHP Zebby Matthews (5-8, 5.23) in the rubber game of the series on Wednesday.
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