In front of their largest crowd since opening day, the Orioles had their worst offensive game of the season.
With an announced attendance of 40,012 on Hawaiian shirt day, Baltimore continued its slump at the plate, totaling just three hits one day after managing only four. The poor performance at the plate spoiled another stellar start from Kyle Bradish, as Joey Gallo’s solo home run in the fourth inning was all the Minnesota Twins needed to win 1-0.
Twins starter Bailey Ober pitched seven shutout innings, and Minnesota’s bullpen followed suit. The three hits the Orioles managed are the fewest they’ve totaled in any of their six shutout losses this year.
One of their best scoring chances came in the ninth inning. Adley Rutschman reached on an infield single off closer Jhoan Duran, and Jorge Mateo pinch ran for the catcher and stole second. But Anthony Santander flied out to right fielder Max Kepler, who made a sliding catch in foul territory, and cleanup hitter Ryan O’Hearn grounded out to first to end the game.
The defeat is the Orioles’ fourth straight, their longest streak of the season. Saturday was game No. 81, marking the midway point of the season. At 48-33, Baltimore is on pace to win 96 games.
In June, Bradish emerged as the Orioles’ second-best starting pitcher. He maintained that pedigree in his first July start.
He was no Ober, but Bradish pitched six sharp innings to give the Orioles’ lineup a chance to win — something Kyle Gibson (six runs allowed in 4 2/3 innings Wednesday) and Dean Kremer (seven runs allowed in three innings Friday) didn’t do in the club’s previous two games.
Bradish struck out at least seven for the fourth time in his past five starts after not doing so in his first 10. The lone instance in which Bradish didn’t strike out seven-plus was June 14 against the Blue Jays, when the right-hander twirled seven innings of one-run ball in a game the Orioles also lost.
Over his past five starts, Bradish has a 2.70 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 30 innings. His ERA on the year is down to 3.58.
This story will be updated.
Twins at Orioles
Sunday, 12:05 p.m.
Stream: Peacock
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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