Carl Pavano had put together consecutive outstanding appearances for the Twins, but he simply didn't have it tonight at Camden Yards. Pavano failed to make it out of the fifth inning, and was blasted for eight runs (seven earned) as the Baltimore Orioles thrashed the Minnesota Twins by a score of 11-0 on Tuesday night.
The 11 runs scored by the Orioles on Tuesday marks their highest total of the year, and all of their runs were scored with two outs. After Pavano got the first two outs in the bottom of the second, the Orioles managed to string together three hits and two walks, and when the smoke cleared, the Orioles had a 3-0 lead going into the top of the third. The Orioles added another run with two outs in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double by Brian Roberts.
In the bottom of the fifth, Orioles' catcher Matt Weiters drove home three runs with a bases-clearing double, and that was enough to chase Pavano with the score at 7-0. Dusty Hughes came in to relieve Pavano, and let one more run come across on an Alexi Casilla throwing error on Robert Andino's infield single. The Twins found themselves down 8-0 after five innings, and it didn't get any better.
Joe Nathan came into the game in the bottom of the eighth, and got the first two outs while giving up a single to Andino and walking Nick Markakis. Then, Vladimir Guerrero came in and ripped a three-run homer to right, making the score 11-0.
Jake Arrieta was as good this evening as Pavano was bad, completely handcuffing the Twins' offense and allowing the Twins only four hits in six innings of work. Jason Berken and Josh Rupe mopped up for Baltimore, allowing only two hits (both by Berken) in their three combined innings of work.
The Twins' offense continues to be awful, as they got shut out for the second time this season. With the Milwaukee Brewers putting up nine runs against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, the Twins are now the only team in Major League Baseball that hasn't scored more than five runs in a game this season, and they obviously failed to add to the lowest run scored total in the Major Leagues this evening.
Minnesota will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they send Nick Blackburn (1-2, 3.06 ERA) to the hill to square off against Zach Britton (2-1, 2.75). First pitch is again scheduled for 6:05 PM Central.