BALTIMORE _ On Opening Day that seemed scripted for disaster Thursday at Camden Yards ended with the longest-tenured Oriole _ center fielder Adam Jones _ the hero.
After the Orioles blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning and failed to score the winning run in the 10th with the bases loaded and one out, Jones wasted no time in the 11th, lining Fernando Rodney's first pitch into the left-field stands for a 3-2 win.
As Jones jogged around the bases, his teammates gathered around home plate for a walk-off celebration. Jones slammed his helmet to the ground as he approached, yelled into the air and into a mob at home plate, emerging with his jersey ripped from his body.
The victory was the Orioles' eighth straight on Opening Day, extending the longest active streak for an American League team.
It was ironic that Jones _ the Orioles' longest tenured player and one of four key players who approach free agency after this season _ was the hero. But until Jones ended it, it seems the Orioles were destined for defeat.
The Orioles had an opportunity to win in the 10th, but couldn't take advantage of a bases-loaded situation when Jonathan Schoop hit into an inning-ending double-play.
In the 10th, pinch hitter Colby Rasmus drew a leadoff walk from Twins reliever Trevor Hildenberger. After Caleb Joseph's sacrifice bunt moved Rasmus to second, Chris Davis was intentionally walked and Twins manager Paul Molitor inserted closer Rodney to face Manny Machado.
Machado looped Rodney's first pitch into shallow center, and center fielder Eddie Rosario deked the base runners, holding his glove up as if he was making the catch before the ball dropped in front of him. Rosario had Davis hung up between first and second, but no one was covering the second base bag, and Davis slid in safely, a play that was confirmed by video review.
Schoop, who was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts Thursday, then hit a grounder to Eduardo Escobar at shortstop against a drawn-in Twins infield that ended in a 6-2-4 double play.
Before that, reliever Brad Brach couldn't hold a two-run ninth inning lead.
The inning started easily enough for Brach, as he struck out Miguel Sano on five pitches, blowing a 95-mph fastball by him for the first out. But Rosario then reached on a sharp grounder right to Davis that skipped past him and was ruled a single.
Rosario went to second on a passed ball and Brach walked Logan Morrison on four pitches. Brach then struck out Escobar on six pitches by getting him to swing through a full-count splitter.
Max Kepler drew an 11-pitch walk to load the bases, a plate appearance in which Brach was ahead 0-2 and Kepler fouled off five pitches.
After a mound visit from pitching coach Roger McDowell, Brach fell behind pinch hitter Robbie Grossman 3-1 before allowing a lofted bloop single that dropped just out of the reach of Machado in shallow center field. Two runs scored on the play, quieting the Camden Yards crowd.
Mychal Givens entered and retired the next better.
Showalter went into the season having told his top relievers _ Brach, Darren O'Day and Givens _ that he didn't plan on naming an interim closer, but all three should regularly be ready for save opportunities. O'Day pitched a scoreless eighth Thursday and Givens continued with a scoreless 10th.
