Orioles 9, Twins 5: Chris Davis homered for the fourth consecutive game, belting a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning to power Baltimore in its home opener.
Davis crushed the first pitch he saw from reliever Tyler Robertson to become the fourth player in major league history to homer in the first four games of the season. He also had a sacrifice fly to boost his RBI total to a staggering 16 - the most by a player through a team's first four games.
The dramatic blast by Davis made a winner of reliever Luis Ayala (1-0), who allowed two hits in 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Orioles starter Jake Arrieta went five-plus innings, allowing five runs on seven hits.
Adam Jones collected three hits and two RBIs to boost his average to .526 and Manny Machado added an RBI single as Baltimore won for the third time in four games.
Brian Dozier went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, delivering a two-run triple in a four-run fourth and putting Minnesota ahead 5-4 with an RBI single in the sixth. Twins starter Liam Hendriks lasted 4 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits, and reliever Casey Fien (0-1) was charged with four runs in two-thirds of an inning.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Davis, who raised his batting average to .600, joined Hall of Famer Willie Mays, Mark McGwire and Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers as the only players to go deep in the first four games of the season. ... Chris Parmelee and Eduardo Escobar had RBI singles for the Twins, who were denied their third straight victory. ... Orioles 2B Brian Roberts will be sidelined two to four weeks after suffering a ruptured tendon behind his right knee that will not require surgery. Roberts, who has played in only 115 games over the previous three seasons, was hurt stealing a base in Thursday's game.
Minnesota | Baltimore | |
Liam Hendriks | Player | Jake Arrieta |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
4.2 | IP | 5.0 |
1 | Strikeouts | 5 |
8 | Hits | 7 |
7.71 | ERA | 9.00 |
Minnesota | Baltimore | |
Trevor Plouffe | Player | Adam Jones |
2 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 2 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 4 |
.667 | Avg | .600 |