Twins Vs. Orioles Preview: Minnesota Looking To Avoid Three-Game Sweep

Minnesota hopes to avoid falling to 0-3 on Sunday in its series finale with Baltimore.

Twins Vs. Orioles Final: Minnesota Dominated By Baltimore 8-2

The Minnesota Twins are starting off the season on the wrong foot, and fell to 0-2 on the year with an 8-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Twins batters left 14 men on base during the game, and were unable to break through in the scoring column until the eighth inning with the game far out of reach. Jamey Carroll and Joe Mauer each drove in the only two Minnesota runs with a pair of consecutive groundouts that ended in a fielder's choice.

Minnesota starting pitcher Francisco Liriano tossed only four innings of eight-hit ball with six runs allowed to take the loss, and doesn't appear to look any different than the pitcher who posted a 5.09 ERA last in 2011. Liriano will now open the season with an insurmountably-high 11.25 ERA.

Good news for the Twins is that Justin Morneau went 2-for-4 with a double, moving his season average to .375. Morneau's health remains one of the biggest black clouds over this team, and his hot start at the plate could be a sign of things to come.

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Twins Vs. Orioles: Francisco Liriano Struggles In Season Debut

After turning in a miserable 5.09 ERA in 24 starts last season, 2012 was supposed to be a year of resurgence for Minnesota Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano. But in his season debut against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, Liriano looked eerily similar to the pitcher who struggled to record outs for much of last year.

With his team shut down offensively during his stint on the mound, Liriano scattered eight hits in just four innings, yielding six runs (five earned) with two walks. He did manage to strike out four batters, but fanning batters in between the hits and walks has never been an issue for the talented lefthander. Liriano did not come out to the mound to begin the fifth inning with Minnesota down 6-0 on the scoreboard.

Liriano will now open the year with an 11.25 ERA and 2.50 WHIP, numbers that are more than double what he averaged a year ago. While it's never fair to judge a starter based on one game, a performance like this does not invoke confidence that Liriano will be able to turn his career around in 2012.

For more on the Twins, head over to Twinkie Town. For more MLB coverage, check out Baseball Nation.

Liam Hendriks Out Sunday With Food Poisoning, Anthony Swarzak To Start Against Orioles

The Minnesota Twins are gearing up for the second of three meetings with the Baltimore Orioles, having lost the first outing 4-2 to start their season on Friday. Tommy Hunter will be on the mound for the Twins, with Francisco Liriano the counter for Baltimore. But that's not the most interesting matchup this series, and for the Twins, "interesting" could have a negative connotation. ESPN Twin Cities is reporting that Liam Hendriks will not be the starter for Sunday's game, as he's been struck with food poisoning.

In his place, Anthony Swarzak will be making the start. Hendriks had claimed the spot in the starting rotation with Jason Marquis out of action for two weeks and Scott Baker going through some injury troubles, but this is a definite setback for his immediate future in the rotation. He was looking forward to playing and making a name for himself to earn more time in the role.

Hendriks was admitted to a hospital on Saturday and should be released on Sunday, but will not be in action. Swarzak, a righty, went 2-0 with a 2.93 earned run average during spring training. He's 6-12 with a 5.36 ERA in 23 career starts, but by all accounts, he looks better now than he has in a long time. He'll be up against Jason Hammel for Baltimore.

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Twins Vs. Orioles: Minnesota Looks For First Win With Liriano On The Hill

Twins look to even up record with first win of the season.

Twins Vs. Orioles Opening Day: Minnesota's 2-Run Rally Falls Short In The 9th

The Twins fell on Opening Day. 4-2, to the Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards.

Twins Vs. Orioles: Minnesota Starts 2012 With Opening Day Against Baltimore

It's the 20th anniversary of the opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and the Minnesota Twins are out to spoil it when they kick off their Opening Day against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. It will be the first game in what is sure to be an intriguing season for the Twins, who finished with the most losses in the American League last season but attributed most of that to the injury bug and bad luck.

The starting batting order has already been released for the Twins as shown below, with Joe Mauer batting third being the man to watch as he always seems to be. There's still some injuries floating around the Twins right now which means there's a couple of new faces on the roster.

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Jamey Carroll, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, DH
5. Josh Willingham, LF
6. Ryan Doumit, RF
7. Danny Valencia, 3B
8. Chris Parmelee, 1B
9. Alexi Casilla, 2B

Carl Pavano will take the mound for the Twins, he of a 9-13 record and a 4.30 ERA last season during the lost year for Minnesota in 2011. The Orioles will have 26 year old Jake Arrieta starting the opening day affair. Now in his third year of service for the team, Arrieta won 10 games in his sophomore campaign. Big things will be expected of the young man this year, but he is a guy who has never pitched more than 120 innings in his two seasons. Arrieta also had a worrying 5.05 ERA and 21 home runs allowed in 2011, almost a rate of one HR per game.

The game will be at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at 3:05 p.m. ET.

For more on the Minnesota Twins, check out Twinkie Town. For more on the Balitmore Orioles, head over to Camden Chat. If you want more on Major League Baseball in general, check out Baseball Nation.

Twins Opening Day 2012: Minnesota Announces Starting Lineup

A couple of new faces highlight Minnesota's Opening Day 2012 starting lineup.

Minnesota Twins Roster: How Four Relative Unknowns Unexpectedly Made It To Opening Day

With four unexpected names making the trip north with the Minnesota Twins in a few days, now is a good time to chronicle the circumstances that led to their rise. No roster decisions are made in a vacuum, especially on opening day, and these are no exception.