Ryan O'Hearn and Colton Cowser each homered, and the Baltimore Orioles cruised to a 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night in Minneapolis. Ryan Mountcastle finished 3-for-5 with a double for Baltimore (89-71), which won the opener of a three-game series. Anthony Santander went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Carlos Santana had a two-run single to lead Minnesota (82-78). The Twins were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. Orioles left-hander Cade Povich (3-9) allowed only two hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
He walked one and struck out two. Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez (15-10) gave up two runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out eight.
The Orioles jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Adley Rutschman hit a leadoff single to left, and O'Hearn followed with a 399-foot homer to right field. The two-run shot marked the 14th homer of the season for O'Hearn, matching his career highs from 2019 and 2023.
Cowser contributed a solo home run in the seventh to increase the Orioles' lead to 3-0. The blast, which matched O'Hearn's at 399 feet, was Cowser's 24th of the season. Baltimore piled on four more runs in the eighth to make it 7-0.
Ramon Urias started the scoring with an RBI single to left to drive in Jackson Holliday. Gunnar Henderson added the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center. In the next at-bat, Jordan Westburg notched an RBI groundout.
Santander capped the big inning with an RBI single to left. The Tw.