MINNEAPOLIS — Michael Pineda and Jorge Lopez had remarkably similar, yet distinctly divergent, outings on Wednesday. Both pitched six strong innings, with Pineda allowing three hits in his return from the injured list, and Lopez just four in his 10th start for the Orioles. Each pitcher made one major mistake, and it sailed over the fence.
The difference: Two Twins were on base when Miguel Sano connected against Lopez. Nobody was on base when Trey Mancini took Pineda deep.
Nobody ever is against Pineda.
The Twins finished off their first series sweep of the season on Wednesday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over hard-luck Lopez and the Orioles. It was Minnesota's sixth win in seven games, and their 15th in a row against the last-place Orioles. Baltimore fell to 17-32 with its ninth consecutive loss and 16th in their its last 18 games.
Pineda's brilliant eight-strikeout start was the best news for the Twins, though Sano's continued home-run tear ranks up there, too. The big righthander allowed three hits in the first inning, but was spared more damage when Willians Astudillo threw out would-be base stealer Cedric Mullins. That meant the bases were empty when Mancini drove a changeup into the bleachers in left field, a common occurrence for Pineda, who has allowed nine homers this season — but every one of them solo shots.
In fact, in Pineda's three seasons as a Twin, only once, back in June 2019, has he given up a home run with more than one runner on base.
The Twins had two runners on base in the sixth against Lopez, after Max Kepler singled and Nelson Cruz walked. But Lopez righthander threw up his hands in despair when Sano reached out and lasered a line drive over the center field fence, a three-run shot that amounted to all the offense the Twins could muster.
Baltimore managed to close the gap in the ninth against Hansel Robles, with doubles by Mancini and Maikel Franco putting the tying run in scoring position. But Stevie Wilkerson hit a broken-bat ground ball to Jorge Polanco to end the game, and the series.
