Minnesota beat Baltimore 7-5 Wednesday as Shane Baz surrendered nine hits and five earned runs in just three innings, putting the Orioles in a hole they couldn't dig out of.
Dylan Beavers homered and drove in three runs for Baltimore, while Leody Taveras added a solo shot. For the Twins, Alan Roden went 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, and Josh Bell also collected three hits.
The game turned in the third inning, which produced a combined seven runs — four for Minnesota and three for Baltimore — with Baz absorbing the damage before being pulled after only 65 pitches. He allowed nine hits and five runs, all earned, with two strikeouts and a walk.
“It looked like he had a tough time feeling out the strike zone," Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said of Baz, whose velocity was down from normal. "From his feedback, he felt like he was just moving slow today.”
"I don’t know if it was just the day game, or just one of those days where you’re not feeling good," Baz said afterward. "I’ll try to look back and see if there’s anything was glaring to me. Something was just a little off."
He said he wasn't dealing with an injury and his body felt fine, five days after throwing eight innings in his previous start.
“I threw a good bullpen a few days ago, and stuff looked sharp," Baz said. “I don’t really have an explanation. Just poor execution, really. Felt like a lot of pitches were just in the heart of the plate...
“The command was just not good. I wasn’t really executing anything, really. They just kept putting the ball in play and finding holes.”
The Orioles took a 4-1 lead on Beavers' three-run home run and Roden's RBI double gave Minnesota a 5-4 lead.
The Twins extended their lead with two more runs in the fifth and never looked back, taking a 7-4 advantage into the late innings. Taveras hit a long ball in the ninth, but it wasn't enough for the Orioles, who fell to 58-63, 2.5 games back of the final AL wild-card spot, and into a tie for last in the AL East with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Zebby Matthews earned the win for Minnesota (60-62) with five innings of work, and Yoendrys Gómez picked up the save despite allowing a run in the ninth. Baltimore's bullpen steadied after Baz's exit, with Yaramil Hiraldo, Cam Sanders, Alex Hoppe, and Albert Suárez combining to allow just two earned runs over the final six innings.
After a day off on Thursday, the Orioles face division-leading Tampa Bay (73-46) for a four-game series.
“We’re still in it, but also, we got to win games," Albernaz said. "Every game is just as important as the next one.”
“This is the time of the year where you either show up or you start to freakin’ mail it in and give up. That’s not really what I do," Baz said. "I’m going to go out there in five days or however many and just execute better.”