Orioles fend off Twins to take series

Tyler O'Neill hit a three-run home run and the Baltimore Orioles later rallied with a three-run seventh inning to beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 8-6 on Sunday afternoon.

Pete Alonso, pinch hitter Adley Rutschman and Coby Mayo had run-producing hits in the seventh as the Orioles won for the second day in a row to capture two of three games in the season-opening series. Alonso and Mayo both finished with two of Baltimore's 12 hits.

Tristan Gray drove in three runs with a pair of hits and Royce Lewis homered for Minnesota. Trevor Larnach, Josh Bell and Victor Caratini also had two hits for the Twins, who had two runners on base with two outs in the ninth.

Rico Garcia (1-0) was the winning pitcher with one-third of an inning of relief for his first big-league victory since 2020. Ryan Helsley, despite yielding a single and a batter reaching on an error in the ninth, notched his second save when he got James Outman to fly out to end the game.

Mick Abel (0-1), who gave up five runs on 3 1/3 innings out of the Twins' bullpen, took the loss. Starter Bailey Ober gave up three runs in four innings.

Baltimore starter Shane Baz, in his debut with the Orioles and just a couple of days after the announcement of a five-year contract extension, gave up four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four without a walk.

Larnach knocked in the first run in the second inning with an infield single and, two batters later, Gray supplied a three-run double.

The Orioles climbed back, beginning with O'Neill's three-run blast to left field in the fourth. Dylan Beavers put the O's ahead with a two-run double in the sixth.

Lewis homered for the second day in a row in the seventh, with the solo shot tying the game 5-5 before the Twins loaded the bases with two outs but didn't convert.

After Baltimore's three-run seventh, Minnesota loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth off Tyler Wells. Gray's one-out single produced the lone run. Wells and Yennier Cano each posted a strikeout to avoid further damage.