SARASOTA, FLA. — Austin Martin and Matt Wallner homered on Monday, and the Twins scored more runs in one sunny afternoon that they had managed in all four of their previous Grapefruit League games combined.
But veteran righthander Chi Chi Gonzalez allowed five runs on four hits and three walks while recording only four outs in his Twins debut, and three Class AAA relievers in a row allowed Baltimore to add on, and the Twins lost for the fourth time in five games, 10-8 to the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium.
Martin, acquired from Toronto last July in the Jose Berrios trade, connected against Orioles reliever Keegan Akin in the fifth inning, driving a pitch into the picnic seats in deep left-center for his first home run while wearing a Twins jersey.
Three innings later, Wallner, the outfielder from Forest Lake who hit a walk-off home run in a spring game two years ago, drilled a Joey Krehbiel pitch over the wall in straightaway center field, igniting a Twins rally that briefly tied the score.
"I will tell you this," manager Rocco Baldelli said of Wallner's blast, "with the wind blowing in the way it was [Monday], there are very few human beings that can hit a ball to center field like that. Like, anywhere, including major league teams. That was a very impressive, jaw-dropping homer."
Jake Cave and new catcher Jose Godoy each drove in two runs.
But righthander Drew Strotman allowed a run-scoring double to Orioles outfielder Yusniel Diaz, and shortstop Joseph Ortiz followed with an RBI single, earning the Orioles their first victory in four games this spring.
The Twins return to Hammond Stadium on Tuesday to face Atlanta at 12:05 p.m. CDT, with Joe Ryan making his spring debut. The game will be televised by BSN.
