MINNEAPOLIS _ Thanks Baltimore, the Twins needed this.
After going 1-8 on their recently completed road trip, the Twins needed to remember what it felt like to win again.
And in came the Orioles, the team with the worst record in baseball. A team with many familiar names, several All-Stars and one player _ in Manny Machado _ who could be the big catch before the July 31 trade deadline. Despite the experience on the roster, the Orioles have been a mess all season long.
And the Twins went out and treated them like the last-place team they are, sweeping them in a four-game series _ with Sunday's 10-1 romp the final licks on a bad baseball team.
The Twins took control of the game in the sixth inning, when they scored eight runs, including home runs by Eduardo Escobar and Brian Dozier. Right-hander Jake Odorizzi, 4-6, pitched six shutout innings, outdueling his former Tampa Bay teammate Alex Cobb, who started for Baltimore.
The margin of victory was the largest of the season for the Twins.
And the Twins swept the Orioles in a four-game series for the first time ever in Minnesota.
Paul Molitor was freed from high-leverage managing for a change, as Matt Belisle took over for Odorizzi in the seventh and Willians Astudillo made his Target Field debut by replacing Brian Dozier. The Twins will look to extend their winning streak on Monday when they open a three-game series against Kansas City at Target Field.
The game was scoreless until the fifth when Mitch Garver fought back from an 0-2 count to make it 3-2, then blasted a two-run home run to left field off Cobb.
That was the warm-up act for the sixth inning, during which the Twins tied their season high by scoring eight runs.
Escobar kicked it off with a two-run home run to right, his 14th of the season. Logan Morrison, tired of the shift, bunted toward third for a hit. Robbie Grossman and Max Kepler followed with singles, loading the bases.
Garver hit a grounder to Machado, one of the game's elite players. Machado bounced his throw home while trying to get a forceout of Morrison. Catcher Caleb Joseph then pulled his foot off the bag while catching it. Morrison was safe to make the score 5-0.
Jake Cave blooped in a single as Grossman scored to make it 6-0. Kepler scored on a groundout to make it 7-0. One batter later, Cobb pulled up while running after a ball and had to leave the game. Ryan Meisinger replaced him, but Dozier greeted him with a three-run homer into the second deck in left, giving the Twins a 10-0 lead.
