BALTIMORE – Jhoan Duran recorded his first MLB save, pitching a quick and clean ninth inning — including striking out the final batter — to preserve a slim 2-1 victory for the Twins against the Orioles.
In his first major league season, Duran has made eight relief appearances and pitched 12 innings, allowing just eight hits and four runs.
The Twins went from taking a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays — who have claimed the AL East the past two seasons — by a combined score of 19-10, to eking out a close one Monday against a team that's been toward the bottom of that same division the past five years.
The Twins have now won 10 of their past 11 games, good for a 14-9 record. Baltimore fell to 8-15.
Both starting pitchers started the game strong, and both happened to have Twins ties.
Orioles starter Tyler Wells was a 15th-round pick in the 2016 draft for the Twins and pitched in their system until Baltimore took him in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. Wells had undergone Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2019, so he missed most of that season — and all of the next with the COVID-19 pandemic canceling minor league ball.
But he made the Orioles' Opening Day roster last season as a bullpen arm. For 2022, he transferred to the starting rotation. And Monday, he started against his former team at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
There's not many on the Twins roster who once counted themselves as teammates of Wells in the minors, so that mystery might be how Wells held the Twins hitless through three 1-2-3 innings. He gave up base hits in the fourth to Luis Arraez and Jorge Polanco, but it wasn't until the fifth inning that the Twins took the lead.
Trevor Larnach hit a double to the corner in right field before Ryan Jeffers sent him home with a base hit. That would be Wells' last inning, leaving the game after allowing four hits, one run and striking out four.
Twins starter Chris Paddack held Baltimore scoreless through four innings. He let in his only run in the fifth inning, giving up a leadoff triple to Rougned Odor, followed by Ramon Urias' sacrifice fly. Paddack faced three batters in the sixth, walking one and allowing a base hit to put runners on first and third. He exited, finishing with four hits, one run and one walk allowed, with three strikeouts.
Joe Smith then came in to face just one batter, inducing a double play to end the inning.
"One thing that's been pretty consistent, he's thrown strikes," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said pregame of Paddack, who picked up his first win. "He pounds the zone. Whether it's – it even doesn't matter the situation or what's going on. He's just – he throws strikes. It's always great to know you have that in your back pocket, but he's an exciting young guy, and I think we're only just scratching what he's capable of doing."
The Twins forced Baltimore to field two bullpen arms in the sixth, with a leadoff base hit from Byron Buxton and then an RBI single from Carlos Correa chasing Bryan Baker from the game. Cionel Perez was able to end the inning without any more damage.
Jose Miranda made his MLB debut, starting at third base and hitting sixth in the batting order. He was hitless in his four chances at the plate, including lining out to end the sixth with two runners on base. Gio Urshela replaced him at third in the bottom of the ninth.
Miranda, though, was just happy to be among a hot team.
"It's pretty cool. They're playing really nice right now," he said before the game. "It's a cool moment to be here now that they're winning and doing good things."
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