Last night, the Twins were unable to stage a comeback for a win. There was no such repeat tonight, as they stormed back for a 7-5 victory over the Orioles. Joe Mauer was the offensive focal point, as the Twins scored 5 times over the span of 3 innings to complete the comeback.
The team fell behind 3-0 entering the bottom of the 2nd, but were able to pull back into contention. Jason Kubel singled home Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer was able to advance to 3rd. Cuddyer would later score on a wild pitch by Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera to make it a 3-2 game. The Os would put two more across in the 4th, to make it look like it was headed to a repeat of last night. Nay said the Twins as the comeback started in the 5th. Mauer hit a sac fly that scored Nick Punto from 3rd and even Carlos Gomez from 2nd. In the 6th, Kubel hit an RBI triple and then was brought home by Delmon Young’s sac fly. The surge was capped off with Mauer’s solo shot in the 7th.
Starter Glen Perkins did not fare as well as the offense, allowing the Orioles to jump out in front by giving up 5 runs on 9 hits over only 4 innings. Recently demoted Boof Bonser then came in and pitched 2 2/3 innings of one hit ball for the win. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect 9th for his 16th save of the season.
It certainly was an encouraging outing for Bonser, whose struggles in the rotation led to his demotion. Such a performance might be a portent of things to come. After the Twins failed at a comeback in the first game of the series, then got it in the 2nd, one has to wonder what will happen in tomorrow’s series finale. Nevertheless, the team has the obvious momentum and who knows, this could be the start of a Cubs-like winning streak.
