MLB

Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins

· Major League Baseball
Baltimore Orioles
89-71, 45-34 Away
Final
7 - 2
Minnesota Twins
82-78, 43-36 Home

Orioles wrap up top AL wild-card spot, ending Twins' playoff hopes with 7-2 victory

The Orioles wrapped up the top AL wild-card spot, and will host either Detroit or Kansas City in the opening round next week.

“To get home field through the wild card is huge," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. "We’re going to be pumped to play in front of our fans. There’s going to be a lot of energy and excitement in the ballpark.”

By the fifth inning, the Twins knew the Tigers had won and the Royals had lost, meaning a victory would keep their playoff hopes alive. But they could only muster two hits through the first eight innings and trailed 7-0.

At their high-water mark of the season on Aug. 17, the Twins were 70-53 and had a five-game cushion in the wild-card race. Since then, they are 12-25.

“It was clearly beyond a disappointing way to end a run and what was, and appeared to be, a promising season that we had going," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, whose team was the defending AL Central champions.

Povich (3-9) gave up just two hits and walked one while striking out two in 5 2/3 innings. The rookie left-hander was making his first career start against the team that selected him in the third round of the 2021 draft. The Twins traded him to Baltimore a year later as the centerpiece of a package used to acquire reliever Jorge Lopez.

“I’m just treating every start like it’s kind of a tryout for the postseason,” said Povich, who went 2-2 with a 2.60 ERA in five September starts.

Twins starter Pablo López (15-10) allowed two runs on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

“It’s tough,” López said about the Twins' collapse. “We were riding the high for so long. Everything was going well. Things were fun. Things were clicking. And then nothing was clicking.”

O’Hearn started the scoring for the Orioles with a two-run homer to deep right in the second inning.

The Orioles loaded the bases with one out in the fifth. But López struck out Ramón Urías on his career-high 111th pitch of the night. Then reliever Caleb Thielbar retired Gunner Henderson on a grounder to keep it 2-0.

Cowser tagged Thielbar's pitch for his 24th homer of the season in the seventh. Baltimore tacked on four more runs in the eighth on five singles off reliever Kody Funderburk.

The Twins broke up the shutout in the ninth on Carlos Santana's two-run single.

Now, the Twins are looking at an offseason spent trying to figure out what went wrong and how to avoid a repeat in the future.

“You don’t react emotionally in these moments. Really, you look at it big-picture,” Baldelli said. “You look at how the season went as a whole. We’re also going to look at how the last six weeks went, because that’s what a lot of us are feeling right now.”

UP NEXT

RHP Zebby Matthews (1-3, 5.71) was set to start Saturday for the Twins. The Orioles had not announced their starter.

How can I watch Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins?
  • TV Channel: Orioles at Twins 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Matchup Prediction

Twins: 62.6%
Orioles: 37.4%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Jeffers grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Lee out at second.
9th Inning Lee grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, Santana out at third.
9th Inning Lewis grounded out to pitcher, Santana to second.
9th Inning Santana singled to right, Correa scored and Buxton scored.
9th Inning Buxton doubled to left, Correa to third.
9th Inning Correa walked.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/bal.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBAL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
12 Ground Balls 10
11 Strikeouts 4
7 Runs Batted In 2
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
12 Hits 4
0 Stolen Bases 0
3 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
7 Runs 2
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
1 Sacrifice Flies 0
39 At Bats 31
2 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
16 Runners Left On Base 10
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 3
17 Fly Balls 17
0 Caught Stealing 0
185 Pitches 140
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 1
1 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 0
19 Total Bases 7
43 Plate Appearances 34
324.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
3 Extra Base Hits 3
6.8 Runs Created 1.2
.308 Batting Average .129
1.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.487 Slugging Percentage .226
.256 Secondary Average .194
.349 On Base Percentage .206
.836 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .432
0.7 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.6
6.6 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 1.2
48.0 Batter Rating 18.0
19.5 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
4.30 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.12
.179 Isolated Power .097
0.27 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.75
.070 Walks Per Plate Appearance .088
-.051 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .065
14.0 Runs Produced 4.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.3
0.4 Balls In Play Average 0.1
95.5 MLB Rating 67.0
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Target Field

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 26,058 | Capacity:

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2
Full Standings