MINNEAPOLIS _ If he is to be dealt, if the Twins are to obtain maximum return for the final couple months of Lance Lynn's 2018 season, some value first must be restored. So from a coldly business standpoint, Lynn's strong six innings on Friday night represented a positive equity enhancement.
But from the Twins players' standpoint, it was just a lot of fun.
Lynn, whose one-year contract and extensive postseason experience with St. Louis make him a likely target of contenders as the July 31 nonwaiver deadline nears, bounced back from a recent slump by giving up only one run over six innings, and the Twins rode that strong start to a 6-2 victory over the Orioles at Target Field. The victory was the Twins' second in a row, marking the first time they have won back-to-back games since June 19-20.
Max Kepler crushed a 400-foot home run, Eddie Rosario continued to build his All-Star case by collecting two hits and throwing out an Orioles baserunner trying to score, and Jake Cave made a sensational catch for the second night in a row. But Lynn, who gave up 12 runs in his previous two starts, carried the biggest load for the Twins.
The right-hander cruised through the first three innings, needing only 39 pitches and never putting a runner on past first base. he worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, then had a 1-2-3 fifth. A 27-pitch sixth inning ended his night after six innings, but he gave up only the one run despite putting the first three hitters on base.
By that time, the Twins offense had given Lynn plenty of room to work with. Three consecutive singles to start the first inning produced a run right away _ the Twins' first first-inning run in nearly two weeks _ and an error by Baltimore third baseman Tim Beckham helped make it a three-run inning, capped by Jorge Polanco's clutch two-out single.
The Twins added three more runs in the fourth, after Polanco bunted his way on and Kepler connected on a changeup from Orioles right-hander Dylan Bundy that hung in the middle of the plate. Jake Cave followed with a single, Mitch Garver walked, and Joe Mauer singled Cave home, putting the Twins up by a half-dozen runs and chasing Bundy.
The night continued a frustrating pattern for Bundy: His ERA in eight day games is 1.83, but in his nine starts at night, it's 6.75.
Defense also contributed to the Twins' victory, starting with the first pitch of the game. Beckham walloped Lynn's fastball to straightaway center, where Cave reached the wall and timed his jump perfectly, pulling Beckham's home run back. The victimized batter tipped his cap to Cave as he jogged back to the Baltimore dugout.
In the seventh inning, Beckham was a victim of another Twins outfielder. Trying to score from second base on Manny Machado's sharp single to left against Ryan Pressly, Beckham was out by 10 feet when Rosario rifled a throw that reached Garver on one bounce. It was Rosario's seventh assist of the season, two behind AL leaders Mitch Haniger of Seattle and Leonys Martin of Detroit.
Pressly gave up one run in the seventh. Matt Belisle pitched a scoreless eighth, and Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth in a non-save situation, giving up two singles but retiring Adam Jones and Manny Machado to end the game.
