Santana Tosses 2-Hitter As Twins Beat Orioles 2-0
BALTIMORE (AP) — Ervin Santana pitched a two-hitter for his 10th career shutout, Brian Dozier homered and the surging Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 Tuesday night.
After banging out 21 hits in a 14-7 win over Baltimore on Monday, the AL Central-leading Twins relied on exceptional pitching to earn their ninth victory in 13 games.
Santana (7-2) struck out six, walked two and permitted only one runner past first base. The lone hits against the right-hander were a second-inning single by Welington Castillo and a single in the fifth by Jonathan Schoop.
It was Santana's 18th complete game, the second this season. He finished by retiring the last 14 batters.
Minnesota became the first team this season to capture a series at Camden Yards (the Orioles were 7-0-0). Now 16-5 on the road, the Twins on Wednesday will seek to complete their first three-game sweep in Baltimore since 1996.
Dylan Bundy (5-3) pitched well for the Orioles, but Santana was better. Bundy allowed two runs and six hits over seven innings, striking out seven and walking three.
Byron Buxton hit an RBI single in the fifth and Dozier connected in the seventh for a 2-0 lead.
A crowd of 13,294 endured a persistent rain shower that wasn't quite fierce enough to cause umpires to stop play.
The weather suited Santana just fine. He lowered his ERA to 1.80 and improved to 4-0 with a 0.31 ERA on the road.
ROSTER MOVES
The Orioles recalled LHP Jayson Aquino from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned RHP Stefan Crichton. ... C Francisco Peña cleared waivers and was assigned to Norfolk.
UBALDO ON HOLD
Ubaldo Jimenez hasn't officially lost his place in the Orioles' rotation, despite his poor outing Monday and ugly 7.17 ERA. "His next start is on Sunday, and we'll see when we get there," manager Buck Showalter said. Asked if the bullpen is a possibility for the struggling right-hander, Showalter replied, "That decision, one way or another, has not been made."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: RHP Phil Hughes (sore shoulder) had an MRI scheduled for Tuesday and was slated to see a specialist Wednesday. "They're trying to uncover every stone to make sure we're not missing anything," manager Paul Molitor said.
Orioles: INF Ryan Flaherty (rotator cuff inflammation) will soon begin an arm-strengthening program in Florida, where LHP Zach Britton (forearm strain) is also rehabilitating an injury. "I told (Flaherty) he will give Zach some company," Showalter said.
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