Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins

· Major League Baseball

Baltimore Orioles

90-71, 46-34 Away

Final
9 - 2

Minnesota Twins

82-79, 43-37 Home

Rivera hits 2 HRs and drives in 4 runs as the playoff-bound Orioles beat the Twins 9-2

Ryan O’Hearn also homered and Jackson Holliday added three hits for the Orioles, who have clinched the top wild card in the American League and will face either the Kansas City Royals or Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs.

“A lot of guys have played really well on this road trip, so I’m encouraged how we’re playing going into the postseason,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, whose team has won four of five games this week in series against the Yankees and Twins.

Brooks Lee had two hits for the Twins, who have lost six of their last seven and were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday. Ryan Jeffers helped the Twins avoid the shutout with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.

Baltimore used Matt Bowman as its opener and he got the first four outs. Lefty Tucker Davidson (1-0), making his first appearance for the Orioles after spending the season in Triple-A, allowed four hits over 4 2/3 shutout innings to earn the victory.

“He’s pitched in some big games in his career and had a nice year in Triple-A,” Hyde said of Davidson. “It was awesome to see him get an opportunity and take full advantage of it tonight.”

Twins starter Zebby Matthews (1-4) lasted just three innings, allowing six runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Matthews began the season at Class-A Cedar Rapids and worked his way through three minor league levels before making his major league debut on August 13, after the Twins lost starters Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack to injury.

Matthews won his debut, but the Twins went 2-6 in his last eight starts. Still, manager Rocco Baldelli said Matthews would be a candidate for the Twins rotation next spring.

“The ascent was really fast. You don’t see guys pitching in A ball and then starting in September for a team in the middle of a run at the end of the year where a team needs to win games,” Baldellis said. “He did himself very well.”

O’Hearn hit his second homer in as many nights in the first inning, a two-run shot just inside the left field foul pole, giving the Orioles the early lead.

Rivera drove a slider from Matthews into the bullpens in left-center to extend the Baltimore lead to 4-0 in the second inning. He added a double in the third, a solo homer in the fifth and a single in the ninth for the first four-hit game of his career.

“It was something really special. I think every baseball player hopes to have a night like tonight and thankfully I was able to have that one tonight,” Rivera said through an interpreter.

The Twins will start RHP Bailey Ober (12-8, 3.94) in Sunday's season finale. The Orioles will send RHP Albert Suárez (8-7, 3.74) to the mound for his final tune-up before the postseason.

How can I watch Baltimore Orioles vs. Minnesota Twins?

TV Channel: Orioles at Twins 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on FOX.
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Matchup Prediction

Twins: 45.6%

Orioles: 54.4%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Farmer struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Jeffers homered to left center (395 feet), Santana scored.
	9th Inning	Helman popped out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Santana singled to left.
	9th Inning	Keirsey Jr. grounded out to second.
	9th Inning	Akin relieved Pérez

Statistics

BAL		MIN
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
14	Ground Balls	15
10	Strikeouts	6
9	Runs Batted In	2
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
16	Hits	7
0	Stolen Bases	0
4	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
9	Runs	2
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
1	Sacrifice Flies	0
42	At Bats	33
3	Home Runs	1
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
19	Runners Left On Base	12
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
3	Doubles	0
19	Fly Balls	12
0	Caught Stealing	0
173	Pitches	128
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	0
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
28	Total Bases	10
47	Plate Appearances	35
486.0	Projected Home Runs	162.0
6	Extra Base Hits	1
11.2	Runs Created	2.6
.381	Batting Average	.212
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.667	Slugging Percentage	.303
.381	Secondary Average	.152
.426	On Base Percentage	.257
1.092	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.560
0.7	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.3
11.2	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	2.7
67.0	Batter Rating	18.0
14.0	At Bats Per Home Run	33.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.68	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.66
.286	Isolated Power	.091
0.40	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.33
.085	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.057
.000	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.061
18.0	Runs Produced	4.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.7	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.2
113.3	MLB Rating	72.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0