The Baltimore Orioles continue to dominate the MLB and the 2023 season. The team was more than capable of opening a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels with a 6-3 victory in Anaheim, California.
On the other hand, the leaders of the American League Central Division, the Minnesota Twins, defeated the Cleveland Rangers 20-6. The Twins achieved a performance that confirmed the great talent found in a team that continues to climb.
Orioles Remain in AL East lead
The Orioles are 86-51 on the season. So far, Baltimore has won 12 of its last 16 games. This leaves the Orioles in a perfect position to remain in command of the division.
Last night, it was Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg who had two hits apiece for Baltimore. Grayson Rodriguez pitched six two-run innings and Yennier Cano pitched a perfect ninth inning.
Randal Grichuk and Brandon Drury hit home runs for Los Angeles, which suffered its fourth consecutive loss. The most notable news for Los Angeles occurred before the game, when Shohei Ohtani was removed from the lineup due to right oblique discomfort.
The Angels, who currently sit with a 64-74 record, scored first in the second inning when Michael Stefanic took a ticket to score a run with one out off Rodriguez. He was able to score himself from first base on Mickey Moniak's double to right center field.
Baltimore took a 3-1 lead in the third by connecting on five hits against Angels left-hander Kenny Rosenberg. Austin Hays provided a two-run double, Mountcastle had a single with one out, and Aaron Hicks contributed a single to drive in two outs.
In the seventh, Henderson provided the decisive blow against Angels reliever Gerardo Reyes after Anthony Santander singled with two outs.
Henderson connected on a ball from Reyes and sent it 382 feet over the right field wall to put the Orioles up 6-2. It was Henderson's 23rd home run of the season. This result leaves the Orioles atop the AL East.
On the other hand, the Angels remain stuck in fourth place in the AL West and behind teams like the Texas Rangers, Astros and Mariners.
A great night no doubt 😌#Birdland pic.twitter.com/Q3ik8wqHyN
- Baltimore Orioles (@losorioles) September 5, 2023
Los Mellizos Humiliate Los Guardianes
Royce Lewis finished with a grand slam and a personal-best six RBIs. Jorge Polanco and Carlos Correa added solo homers against Lucas Giolito in his debut with the Cleveland Rangers.
This was enough for the Twins to continue to lead the American League Central Division and not only beat, but humiliate the Guardians with a 20-6 victory on Monday night.
Lewis, the rookie third baseman, matched the franchise record with his third grand slam of the season. The Twins moved ahead of the second-place Guardians in the division by six games.
With 24 games left to play, including two more in this series against Cleveland, there is no doubt that Minnesota remains on a solid path to the preseason.
Minnesota starter Pablo Lopez pitched six innings, allowing one run on a leadoff triple by Jose Ramirez. Lopez struck out three, falling eight behind Toronto's Kevin Gausman with a total of 207 for the American League strikeout lead.
The largest losses in Cleveland's history were by 21 runs. It ended with a 23-2 score at Minnesota on June 4, 2002. The second-biggest loss for the Rangers was a 21-0 defeat at Detroit on September 15, 1901.
