Christian Vazquez, bullpen power Twins over Orioles to open doubleheader

Brooks Lee also homered in the ninth consecutive win for Minnesota.

Sep 2, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Minnesota Twins shortstop Brooks Lee (72) celebrates with catcher Christian Vazquez (8) after hitting a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The winning streak has reached nine.

After a scheduled off day followed by a rainout, the Twins stayed hot with a 6-3 win over the Orioles in the opening game of Wednesday's doubleheader in Baltimore. Christian Vazquez delivered the big hit for Minnesota, a go-ahead three-run shot in the fourth inning, and the Twins' bullpen put together another shutdown outing to seal the deal.

Brooks Lee also homered for the Twins (22-20), who out-hit the Orioles 9-4 and overcame four errors (two by Lee) to get the win. They added two key insurance runs in the top of the ninth when Trevor Larnach hit an RBI double and then scored on a wild pitch. Rocco Baldelli's team will now look to stretch their streak to double digits in the second game on Wednesday afternoon.

After the Orioles (15-25) scored three two-out runs off of Bailey Ober in the bottom of the third inning, including a two-run homer by Gunnar Henderson, the Twins immediately answered back. Lee homered for the second game in a row to put Minnesota on the board. Then, following a Carlos Correa infield hit and a Willi Castro walk, Vazquez came through with the difference-making blast off of Dean Kremer with two outs.

It was the first homer Vazquez has hit since August 13 of last year. Primarily known for his defense, he came into this game hitting .170 with just two RBI, so this was a key offensive contribution from a most unlikely source.

Christian Vázquez gives the @Twins the lead! pic.twitter.com/d6Syvoz4ZT

— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2025

The score wouldn't change again until the Twins added on with two outs in the top of the ninth. It wasn't a particularly sharp start for Ober, but he didn't allow any additional damage outside of the third. Pulled after a two-out walk in the fifth, Ober finished with three earned runs allowed on two hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. Danny Coulombe came in and got out of the fifth with a flyout, kicking off another stellar performance by the Twins' bullpen.

Coming into this game, the Twins were second in the league in bullpen ERA for the month of March. That group has been a big catalyst of this nine-game winning streak. After Coulombe got one key out, the Twins got scoreless innings from Brock Stewart, Louis Varland, Griffin Jax, and Jhoan Duran, who locked down his eighth save of the season. That quartet allowed one earned baserunner apiece and struck out seven Orioles. Varland got some help from Buxton, who ended the seventh inning and preserved the lead with a diving catch.

Byron Buxton lays out to preserve the lead! pic.twitter.com/6kwZzYk9DC

— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2025

The Twins are now 20-3 this season when scoring at least four runs.

First baseman Ty France left this game in the fifth inning with a left foot contusion and was replaced by Kody Clemens.

Game 2 of the doubleheader will begin shortly.