MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Cade Povich pitched shutout ball into the sixth, Ryan O’Hearn and Colton Cowser homered and the Baltimore Orioles eliminated the Minnesota Twins from postseason contention with a 7-2 victory Friday night.
The Orioles wrapped up the top AL wild-card spot, and will host either Detroit or Kansas City in the opening round next week.
By the fifth inning, the Twins knew the Tigers had won and the Royals had lost, meaning a victory would keep their playoff hopes alive. But they could only muster two hits through the first eight innings and trailed 7-0.
At their high-water mark of the season on Aug. 17, the Twins were 70-53 and had a five-game cushion in the wild-card race. Since then, they are 12-25.
Povich (3-9) gave up just two hits and walked one while striking out two in 5 2/3 innings. The rookie left-hander was making his first career start against the team that selected him in the third round of the 2021 draft. The Twins traded him to Baltimore a year later as the centerpiece of a package used to acquire reliever Jorge Lopez.
Twins starter Pablo López (15-10) allowed two runs on six hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
O’Hearn started the scoring for the Orioles with a two-run homer to deep right in the second inning.
The Orioles loaded the bases with one out in the fifth. But López struck out Ramón Urías on his career-high 111th pitch of the night. Then reliever Caleb Thielbar retired Gunner Henderson on a grounder to keep it 2-0.
Cowser tagged Thielbar’s pitch for his 24th homer of the season in the seventh. Baltimore tacked on four more runs in the eighth on five singles off reliever Kody Funderburk.
The Twins broke up the shutout in the ninth on Carlos Santana’s two-run single.
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RHP Zebby Matthews (1-3, 5.71) was set to start Saturday for the Twins. The Orioles had not announced their starter.
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