BALTIMORE (AP) — Royce Lewis hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Minnesota Twins used a strong effort from their bullpen to beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 Saturday.
Lewis connected off Kyle Bradish (0-1) after a leadoff walk to Trevor Larnach. The drive, which soared just inside the left-field foul pole, gave Minnesota its first lead of the season following a 2-1 loss to Baltimore in the opener Thursday.
Kody Clemens added an RBI single in the seventh to help the Twins earn their first win for manager Derek Shelton, who was hired to turn around a team that went 70-92 last year.
Minnesota starter Taj Bradley struck out nine over 4 1/3 innings, but was yanked after throwing 92 pitches.
Five relievers followed, all of them effective. Anthony Banda (1-0) finished the fifth inning, Kody Funderburk got two outs in the sixth and Eric Orze took it through the seventh.
Justin Topa worked the eighth and Cole Sands got the next three outs for his first save.
The Twins managed only four hits and Baltimore had five, just one for extra bases.
Baltimore's lone run came in the second inning when Colton Cowser doubled and scored on a single by Jeremiah Jackson.
Minnesota pulled even in the fourth when Byron Buxton hustled home on sacrifice fly by Josh Bell.
Game-time temperature was a brisk 46 degrees (7.7 Celsius), down substantially from the 77 degrees (25 Celsius) for the season opener.
The series finale Sunday matches Twins RHP Bailey Ober against Orioles righty Shane Baz, who makes his debut with Baltimore after being traded from Tampa Bay in December. Baz signed a five-year, $68 million contract extension Friday.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Planning your dream wedding? Discover everything you need at the Wedding Fair in the Park – … Read moreWedding Fair in the Park
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
LaurieHietter said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.