MINNEAPOLIS -- When the rain came to Target Field on Monday, it washed away a pitchers' duel and replaced it with bullpen blunders. The Twins and Orioles, who own the worst records in the majors, are much more used to playing that way.
The Twins clung to a one-run lead in the eighth inning of a taut thriller when a sudden spring shower forced a 45-minute delay. When the game resumed, so were the offensive restraints. Minnesota's lead lasted only two pitches — then was restored by the Twins' biggest eighth-inning rally of the season.
In the end, the Twins walked away with an 8-3 victory, their fourth in the last five games, that history suggests was far more inevitable than it appeared. It was Minnesota's 13th consecutive win over the Orioles, a streak dating back to Opening Day 2018.
Yet it was hard to know whether the victory over a fellow last-place team was discouraging or a breakthrough. Their pre-rain performance against Orioles lefthander John Means, who pitched a no-hitter in Seattle less than three weeks ago, provided just enough offense to give Matt Shoemaker a chance to record his third win of the season.
Kyle Garlick, in fact, broke a tie with a home run for the second straight day, and Trevor Larnach connected on the longest home run by a Twins this season.
Kyle Garlick hit his third homer, a solo shot in the sixth inning.
But after the passing rainstorm broke that spell, it took Jorge Alcala only two pitches to surrender that fragile lead. He grooved a 98-mph fastball to .202-hitting outfielder DJ Stewart. The Orioles outfielder blasted the pitch over onto the plaza beyond the right-field seats, scoring Trey Mancini ahead of him, and putting the Orioles ahead.
For the moment.
Baltimore's bullpen fared even worse. Tanner Scott replaced Means, whose 1.79 ERA still leads the American League, and the Twins' bats came alive. Minnesota piled up seven hits, two walks and six runs during the inning, with Mitch Garver's double to right putting the Twins ahead for good.
Shoemaker allowed one run over six innings, and that one happened quickly. Cedric Mullins led off the game by drawing a walk, stole second, and scored with two outs on Anthony Santander's double off the right-field wall.
Though Shoemaker the Orioles put their leadoff hitter on base in four of Shoemaker's six innings, he managed to keep any more runs from scoring.
So did Luke Farrell — though it was with Garlick's help. After Mullins singled with two outs in the seventh, Freddy Galvis lined a double off the wall that Garlick retrieved and lasered to second baseman Nick Gordon. His relay beat Mullins to the plate, and Garver swiped him with a tag as the runner slid headfirst past the plate, the catcher's shoe, replays showed, preventing him from getting his hand under the tag.
