Twins' bullpen, lack of offense waste Sonny Gray's gem vs. Orioles
An eighth-inning rally against Jhoan Duran and another anemic performance at the plate combined to be fatal for the Minnesota Twins as they suffered a 2-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Twins were ahead 1-0 going into the eighth inning when Duran came on for a potential two-inning save. While Twins manager Rocco Baldelli leaned on his top reliever to protect the lead, Duran had an uncharacteristic outing, allowing a game-tying single to Aaron Hicks and hitting Jordan Westburg with the bases loaded to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead.
Duran's struggles were nothing compared to the lineup, who notched just six hits on the afternoon. Willi Castro drove in the lone Twins run with a double in the top of the fifth inning, but the Twins couldn't get anything going against Baltimore starter Cole Irvin, who came into Sunday's game with a 6.32 ERA and allowed one run over five innings.
The offensive effort wasted another strong start from Sonny Gray, who threw six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.
The Twins fell to 42-43 with the loss and will open a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Monday night. Joe Ryan (8-5, 3.44 ERA) will take the mound in the series opener against Kansas City's Austin Cox (0-1, 2.25 ERA).
