Byron Buxton homered for a third straight game and Harrison Bader had a pinch-hit homer to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles for their fourth consecutive victory.
Buxton hit a three-run shot to the second deck in left field off Orioles starter Charlie Morton in the bottom of the third inning. Buxton also had a three-run homer in Tuesday’s 9-1 win over Baltimore and hit a solo blast Sunday in Boston.
With Minnesota leading 3-2 in the seventh, Bader pinch hit for No. 9 hitter Kody Clemens. Bader jumped on a 1-0 pitch from reliever Keegan Akin for a two-run homer to give the Twins a cushion.
"He's been under the weather and I it just seemed like a good spot to get him in there against the lefty," said Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli. "We have a lot of guys that can move around, so we can hit Bader or other guys for a number of guys if we want to. But getting him out there against the lefty just seemed like it made some sense, and then you'd have him in the game defensively too afterwards. So, it worked out probably even better than you could imagine."
Danny Coulombe pitched a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win. Jhoan Durán earned his fifth save with a clean ninth inning. Woods Richardson gave up a run and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
"Kind of a unique outing for him, the pitch count was low, so he was able to get a lot of, I would say weak contact during the game," Baldelli says about Woods Richardson's outing. "But he also wasn't in the strike zone a ton today. He was out of the zone a little bit, I think in that fifth inning it started to cause some issues. Earlier in the game when he fell behind, he was able to induce a lot of probably 1-0, 2-1, 2-0 swings, it worked out, he missed missed some barrels."
Key moment
Bader’s homer in the seventh was the first pinch-hit homer of his career. The veteran outfielder has four home runs and 16 RBIs in his first season with Minnesota.
Key stat
With his scoreless inning Wednesday, Coulombe has pitched 14.1 innings in relief this season without allowing a run.
Up next
Baltimore Orioles (13-22, fifth in the AL East) vs. Minnesota Twins (17-20, fourth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Thursday, 12:10 p.m. Pregame 11:30 a.m. on 830 WCCO and the Audacy App (in-market restrictions apply).
PITCHING PROBABLES: Orioles: Dean Kremer (3-4, 5.73 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 22 strikeouts); Twins: Bailey Ober (4-1, 3.72 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 31 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Twins -157, Orioles +133; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins will try to keep a five-game home win streak going when they play the Baltimore Orioles.
Minnesota has an 11-6 record at home and a 17-20 record overall. The Twins have the 10th-ranked team batting average in the AL at .238.
Baltimore has a 13-22 record overall and a 5-13 record in road games. The Orioles have hit 43 total home runs to rank 10th in the majors.
Thursday's game is the third time these teams match up this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Byron Buxton leads the Twins with nine home runs while slugging .541. Ryan Jeffers is 11 for 35 with two home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games.
Ryan O'Hearn leads the Orioles with seven home runs while slugging .576. Gunnar Henderson is 13 for 37 with three doubles, a home run and two RBIs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 6-4, .272 batting average, 2.69 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
Orioles: 3-7, .223 batting average, 6.17 ERA, outscored by 38 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Joe Ryan: day-to-day (illness), Harrison Bader: day-to-day (illness), Luke Keaschall: 10-Day IL (forearm), Matt Wallner: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Tonkin: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
Orioles: Ramon Urias: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Grayson Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Colton Cowser: 60-Day IL (thumb), Jordan Westburg: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Gary Sanchez: 10-Day IL (wrist), Tyler O'Neill: 10-Day IL (neck), Cody Poteet: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Zachary Eflin: 15-Day IL (lat), Albert Suarez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Trevor Rogers: 15-Day IL (knee), Andrew Kittredge: 15-Day IL (knee), Tyler Wells: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Bradish: 60-Day IL (elbow)
The Associated Press contributed to this story.