Major League Baseball
Minnesota 9, Baltimore 6
When: 8:10 PM ET, Friday, July 7, 2017
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 77°
Umpires: Home - Jim Reynolds, 1B - Sean Barber, 2B - Lance Barrett, 3B - Bill Welke
Attendance: 28668

MINNEAPOLIS -- Rookie Trevor Hildenberger entered Friday's game with the Minnesota Twins down 6-0 against the Baltimore Orioles and knew he just needed to halt the slide and give Minnesota some quality innings.

Hildenberger did his job. Four others relievers matched him and the Twins' offense finally broke through against Kevin Gausman.

Kennys Vargas had three hits and drove in two runs in his return from the minors, Eddie Rosario added three hits and the Twins' bullpen supplied 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Friday's 9-6 comeback win against the Orioles.

"I think the best part of it was the big comeback," Hildenberger said after his first major league win. "Being in the dugout for those two big rallies was really, really fun. It kind of makes me want to be in the dugout all the time. It wasn't just me. The whole bullpen put up zeroes all game. (Ryan) Pressly came in and picked me up after that. (Matt) Belisle with some big outs, and (Taylor) Rogers and (Brandon) Kintzler have been nails all year."

Vargas returned from Triple-A Rochester after Joe Mauer went on the disabled list with back issues and hammered two balls off the outfield wall, including a two-run double in the go-ahead fifth inning.

Minnesota has now won all five games against Baltimore this season.

"We just have to battle every pitch, and try and get back in the game run by run," Vargas said. "We're just still fighting, taking good at-bats. We got those hits at the right moment. That was the key."

Hildenberger (1-0) gave up two hits and struck out three batters in 2 1/3 innings in relief of starter Felix Jorge. On the day he was named an All-Star, Brandon Kintzler finished off his American League-leading 24th save in 27 chances.

Miguel Castro (1-1) took the loss in relief of Gausman. Castro allowed one run on two hits in one inning of work.

Manny Machado had four hits, including two homers. Seth Smith added a solo home run for the Orioles, who've lost five games in a row and seven of their past eight.

"They're a good team over there and you got to give them credit for what they're doing," Machado said. "It's baseball. We all struggle some way or another. We go 0 for 30, pitchers can get rocked all day, it's just part of the game. This is what we're going through right now, and it's just going to make us stronger down the line."

Jorge's second career start wouldn't go as well as his debut last week when he earned a win against the Kansas City Royals.

Smith opened the game with his ninth homer of the season and the seventh of his career leading off a game. Machado followed with a home run for the Orioles' sixth set of back-to-back homers this season. It was the first time since May 20, 2016, against the Angels that Baltimore had done so leading off a game.

Jorge walked No. 9 hitter Ruben Tejada leading off the third and the top of the Orioles' order again went to work. Smith singled and Machado followed with a three-run homer. It was the 11th multi-homer game of Machado's career and the second this season.

Trey Mancini added an RBI single to end Jorge's night.

Meanwhile, Gausman was controlling the Twins on the other side. The right-hander had thrown 12 1/3 scoreless innings in his previous two starts and didn't allow a run until unraveling in the fourth.

Miguel Sano and Max Kepler had infield singles with one out. Vargas singled to right field to load the bases. Rosario plated one run with a single to center and the bases remained loaded. Chris Gimenez was hit by a pitch to bring another run but two strikeouts got Gausman out of the jam.

Brian Dozier started the fifth with a triple, followed by Robbie Grossman's RBI double. Machado's throwing error allowed Sano to reach base. Kepler added an RBI single, Vargas knocked a two-run double and Gimenez laced an RBI single off Castro for a 7-6 lead.

"I wanted to be the guy to kind of right the ship, turn us around tonight and then have two more games of this series," Gausman said. "Hopefully we kind of gain some momentum and get some momentum going into the break. We got to off to a great start offensively, six runs in the first couple innings just what a starting pitcher wants.

"I just tried to battle as much as I could. I left a couple key pitches in bad spots. Unfortunately, those infield hits kind of came around and scored. You just got to try to minimize."

NOTES: Minnesota signed RHP Bartolo Colon to a minor league contract. Colon will report to Triple-A Rochester. ... RHP Felix Jorge was optioned to Double-A Chattanooga after the game as the Twins recalled OF Zack Granite. ... Baltimore announced LHP Wade Miley (3-7, 5.20 ERA) will start Saturday's day game. ... Minnesota placed 1B Joe Mauer on the 10-day disabled list with a left side low back/lumbar strain, retroactive to July 5. It's Mauer's first stint on the DL since Aug. 2014. The team recalled 1B/DH Kennys Vargas from Triple-A Rochester. ... Orioles 1B/DH Chris Davis (right oblique strain) participated in batting practice before the game and fielded ground balls at first base. Manager Buck Showalter said Davis would play rehab games for Class A Frederick on Monday and Class A Delmarva on Wednesday if he continues to progress.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Baltimore   Minnesota
Kevin Gausman Player Felix Jorge
No Decision W/L No Decision
4.0 IP 2.2
7 Strikeouts 2
9 Hits 7
11.25 ERA 20.25
Hitting
Baltimore   Minnesota
Manny Machado Player Eddie Rosario
4 Hits 3
4 RBI 1
2 HR 0
10 TB 4
.800 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Baltimore 12 3 22 .333 12 7 6 1 1 1
Minnesota 14 0 19 .389 12 10 9 0 1 1
?>