The Baltimore Orioles blow lead late in loss to Twins; again!

On Friday night, Jorge López allowed his first run in six weeks for the Baltimore Orioles, but it was what cost them a loss to the Minnesota Twins. On Saturday, he allowed his second and third runs in six weeks, costing the Orioles a Saturday loss to the Twins.

The game started off in the right direction for the Baltimore Orioles, with Tyler Nevin getting it started with an RBI double in the second inning, putting the Orioles ahead by a 1-0 score. In the 3rd, Anthony Santander added a solo home run to the equation, and a 4th inning sac fly from Jorge Mateo made it a 3-0 lead for the Orioles.

Unfortunately, things went downhill from there. O’s starter Jordan Lyles, who put up six strong innings on the mound, was given the 7th inning as he was approaching 100 pitches. In hindsight, that wasn’t a great decision, as he got one out before allowing a solo home run to Nick Gordon, ending his day with a line of 6 1/3 innings, one run, four hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts.

The Baltimore Orioles blow the lead late in a loss to the Twins; again!

After Lyles departed, it was up to Dillon Tate. He did his job in the 7th, getting the required two outs, but things didn’t go too well in the 8th. After a few baserunners reached, he was pulled for Félix Bautista. He got the required three outs to end the inning, but a run came in on a sac fly, which was charged to Tate, but the Orioles were still ahead by a 3-2 score.

When the offense went scoreless in the top of the 9th inning, it was López time in the bottom half, looking to rebound from a blown save on Friday. Things didn’t start out great, with Jorge Polanco hitting a game-tying solo home run to lead off the inning, making it 3-3. After two runners reached, López got one out before Jose Miranda drove in the winning run, hitting a single to give the Twins a walk-off 4-3 victory.

Overall, the Baltimore Orioles as a team have hit a slight bump in the road after a good stretch. In their last ten games, the Orioles have a 5-5 record and have lost four straight games. This time around, Lyles saw a strong start wasted by the bullpen, which just couldn’t get it done, and the offense seemingly went dormant after the 4th inning.

Having already lost the three-game series to the Twins, the Orioles will try to salvage the rubber match on Sunday before heading back home. Devin Smeltzer will start for the Twins, while Tyler Wells will take the Baltimore Orioles mound.