MINNEAPOLIS _ On a night when the Orioles gambled with a rare start for Ubaldo Jimenez and were rewarded for their boldness, it was the most reliable part of their pitching staff _ the bullpen _ that made this one-day trip to Minnesota a fruitless one.
The lead Jimenez left his club with was quickly erased as the Minnesota Twins teed off on the Orioles bullpen in a 6-2 win Thursday at Target Field. That has the Orioles (58-43) on a three-game skid entering a weekend series with the rival Toronto Blue Jays.
Making his first appearance since July 8, Jimenez turned in as solid of an outing as the Orioles could have hoped for Thursday. He struck out eight in five innings, walking three and allowing five hits but getting some timely outs with Twins in scoring position to allow just one run.
Jimenez has been a drag for the pitching staff since essentially mid-April, shuffling out of the rotation because of ineffectiveness and back into it out of necessity. Aside from wanting to stretch out the rotation a bit in a long run of games without a day off, Jimenez's start in Minnesota came because Target Field has been an oasis of sorts for him, and he pitched to his track record Thursday.
The underlying thinking toward giving Jimenez a start _ saving some of the Orioles' young starters and conserving pitching for the remaining 61 games _ ultimately hurt the club when it came time to go to the bullpen. Uncharacteristic struggles for Odrisamer Despaigne, who was charged with four runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief, compounded by a difficult night for Chaz Roe, saw a 2-1 lead turn into a 6-2 deficit.
With a three-game series looming against the division-rival Toronto Blue Jays, manager Buck Showalter stayed away from Darren O'Day, Brad Brach and Zach Britton even as the game was close.
For the second time in 16 games, center fielder Adam Jones homered on the first pitch an opposing starter threw in the first inning. His leadoff home run Thursday staked the Orioles to a quick lead, and extended an incredible run for the host Twins.
Minnesota pitchers have allowed four first-pitch home runs in their past eight games.
