The Minnesota Twins got off to a fast start on Thursday night, but the Baltimore Orioles were able to finish them off once starter Phil Hughes was out of the game.
Minnesota got off to an early 2-0 lead after a Joe Mauer home run in the first and Eduardo Escobar advanced on a fielding error by Chris Davis and was knocked in by Byron Buxton.
Manny Machado cut that lead in half with a home run on the first pitch, but Trevor May pitched the seventh after a rain delay and allowed Mark Trumbo to score off of a wild pitch.
“I slipped back and [my arm] pulled across my body,” May told the Star Tribune when asked about the errant fastball. “That’s on me. If I’m slipping, I’ve got to say something and get that taken care of, especially after a rain delay.”
May added that he felt fine warming up, but that’s because he wasn’t throwing as hard as he could. He felt a minor slip on the first pitch, but dug in and felt that he had taken care of it.
“He didn’t make any gestures or comments that there was a concern until after he threw the wild pitch,” Molitor said. “Not much you can do at that point.”
Jonathan Schoop’s single to center later in the inning scored former Twin J.J. Hardy, who had advanced to second on the wild pitch. Joey Rickard homered in the eighth to seal it.
Minnesota was 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position Thursday night, and 2 for 29 (.095) to start the season.
“You see the guys grinding up there, almost too hard, even though it’s only three games in,” Molitor told the Pioneer Press. “We scored six runs. Strikeouts were significant. I think it’s one of those things that builds early.”
Hughes, for one, was happy this was the last game in Baltimore.
“Not my favorite place to pitch,” he said. “I’m glad we only have to come here once and get out of here. It plays tiny and it never stops raining, so pretty happy to get out of Dodge.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press]
