Trevor Larnach hit the longest home run by a Twin this season, and Kyle Garlick broke a tense tie with a home run for the second consecutive day. Yet the highlight of the day, maybe of the year so far, for the Twins' offense was still to come.
"That was just flat-out awesome to watch," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after his team responded to Baltimore's dramatic, go-ahead, eighth-inning home run with a six-run outburst that allowed them to win for the fourth time in five games, 8-3 over the Orioles at Target Field.
A taut pitchers' duel between AL ERA leader John Means and Twins righthander Matt Shoemaker was washed away by a 45-minute spring shower, replaced once the storm passed by bullpen blunders. Jorge Alcala needed only two pitches to give away Minnesota's slim 2-1 lead to DJ Stewart, who was hitting just .202 at the time yet blasted a 98-mph fastball onto the right-field plaza.
Instead of fearing a loss that has so often felt inevitable during this rocky season, the Twins roared to life against three increasingly hapless Baltimore reliever, posting their biggest late-inning rally of the season. Maybe it was inevitable, though: The Twins have now beaten the Orioles in 13 consecutive meetings, dating back to Opening Day 2018.
"Every guy in our lineup went up there and battled," Baldelli said. "Just grinding the at-bat all the way to the end and making something happen. Trying to find a barrel. Swinging at strikes, taking the tough pitches. That was beautiful."
Andrelton Simmons started it by drawing a walk off Tanner Scott, and moving up on a wild pitch. Garlick singled him to third, and once Cesar Valdez replaced Scott on the mound, Josh Donaldson tried a squeeze bunt. It didn't work — he eventually hit a sacrifice fly that scored Simmons and tied the game — but it got his team's attention.
"He was enthusiastic about it, therefore I am enthusiastic about it. Honestly, he just wanted to get the run home," Baldelli said. "To go out there and hit a ball good to center field, to score that run, that's a big-time play. There were a lot of big-time at-bats today. That was one of them."
So was Mitch Garver's. After Alex Kirilloff singled Garlick to second, Garver laced a double the opposite way into the right-field corner, scoring both runners and putting the Twins up for good. The next four batters all singled off Valdez and Tyler Wells, putting the game out of reach.