BALTIMORE — Every opportunity the Orioles had to fluff their lines and falter Tuesday night but instead came through, every nervy moment followed by wondrous relief, only makes it more meaningful the outcome they added up to.
The Orioles won.
In a 7-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins that halted their 14-game losing streak before it grew a mustache and asked for the car keys, Bruce Zimmermann was at his best on the mound and stars Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini lived up to that billing to lead an Orioles effort that overcame the unease that so much losing can create.
The announced crowd was the smallest for any full-capacity game in the history of Camden Yards at 5,337. It took about that many things to go right for the Orioles to break this skid, tied with the inaugural 1954 team for the second-longest in club history, and everyone chipped in.
Mullins tripled off the wall in right-center field in the first inning and scored on a single by the next batter, Mancini, but the Orioles couldn’t muster anything more. Zimmermann was cruising until Kyle Garlick tied the game with a two-out home run in the third, but it wouldn’t stay that way.
Mullins singled with one out in the third inning, stole second and scored on a single by Mancini again. Freddy Galvis scored Mancini with a single, DJ Stewart scored Anthony Santander with a groundout, and Ryan Mountcastle scored Galvis with an automatic double. Pedro Severino homered in the fifth to make it 6-1, and after Zimmermann exited with a run in and two on in the sixth, Dillon Tate stranded them and Maikel Franco opened the bottom of the inning with a home run to expand the lead to 7-2.
Even so, it was never truly comfortable. What could be with a team that has lost after leading early, lost after leading late, and everything in between for the past two-plus weeks? Zimmermann put runners on the corner with one out in the fifth before striking out two. Tate was trying to strand Zimmermann’s runners when Stevie Wilkerson bobbled a simple double-play turn that would have ended the inning, though he made up for it with a nice play up the middle for the third out.
Tate loaded the bases in the seventh and passed things off to Tanner Scott, who allowed just one run to score. César Valdez allowed a home run to Willians Astudillo to cut the lead to 7-4 in the eighth, but a scoreless ninth from Cole Sulser after he brought the tying run to the plate made winners of the Orioles for the first time since the 10-6 Mother’s Day win over the New York Yankees on May 16.
This victory not only ended their 14-game losing streak, but also a 16-game losing streak to the Twins.
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For the second straight start, Zimmermann showed the kind of form that the Orioles hoped for when he went to the minors last month. He struck out a career-high seven on 19 swinging strikes in 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, lowering his ERA to 4.96. Since returning from that minor league assignment, Zimmermann has made three starts and pitched once in relief; he’s gone at least five innings and allowed two runs or fewer in three of those.
He did it Tuesday with what’s considered his best approach — attacking right-handed hitters on the hands with fastballs and mixing the rest of his pitches well. His slider was particularly effective Tuesday.
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Zimmermann’s day could have been worse if not for a standout defensive play from Mullins in center field. With a runner on first and two outs, Nelson Cruz drove a ball to the gap in right-center and Mullins slid to catch it as he reached the wall.
According to MLB’s Statcast data, similar batted balls have an expected .730 batting average. Mullins saved a run in the process. Statcast said there was a 30% catch probability, making it a four-star catch on a one-to-five scale, according to MLB.com.
