MINNEAPOLIS — Even after the Baltimore Orioles received a much-needed deep start from right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez on Friday night, Manager Buck Showalter said before Saturday’s game that he would need another long outing from left-hander Wei-Yin Chen before he could feel completely confident that his bullpen was back in order.
But Chen did not last past the sixth inning. He departed after a season-high 108 pitches as the Orioles fell, 6-1, to the Minnesota Twins before an announced 25,318 at Target Field.
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The Orioles gave up two homers, including a back-breaking three-run homer by first baseman Joe Mauer off reliever Brad Brach in the seventh inning.
The Orioles (15-13), meanwhile, didn’t solve Twins starter Kevin Correia, who held the club to one run and five hits over seven innings.
Correia (1-3) entered the afternoon with an unsightly 7.33 ERA and was coming off a start in which he gave up eight runs.
But Correia stranded four base runners in his first three innings Saturday and ended his outing by retiring 13 of the last 14 batters.
The usually sure-handed Orioles committed two throwing errors, one apiece by Gold Glove infielders J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado. The Orioles have lost eight of 10 games this season in which they’ve committed an error.
Those mistakes extended innings for Chen (3-2), who allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
With the game tied at 1 in the third inning, Brian Dozier took a 3-2 pitch from Chen off the second-deck facade in left field for a solo homer, his eighth of the season, to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.
— Baltimore Sun