Twins beat Orioles again; Sano gets first MLB home run

THE TWINS defeated the Orioles 8-3 Tuesday night to improve to 27-15 at home…the Twins are now 4-3 in July, 11-4 against the AL East, 31-14 when scoring first in a game and 32-9 when scoring four-or-more runs…the Twins scored eight runs Tuesday, the most since they also scored eight runs on June 30 at CIN…with the win the Twins earned the series victory over the O’s and are now 14-12-2 in series play this season…the Twins will look for their fifth sweep of the season Wednesday against O’s starter Ubaldo Jimenez.

1. KYLE GIBSON earned his seventh win of the season, improving to 22-22 in his career…he allowed two runs on six hits, one home run, one walk and seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings…it was his third start of the season striking out seven-plus, and second straight start…Gibson has earned the win in each of his last three starts, tied for the longest winning streak of his career (also April 5-17, 2014)…Gibson has not allowed more than two runs in each of his last four starts, going 3-1, 2.10 ERA (25.2 IP, 6 ER).

2. TREVOR PLOUFFE (1-for-3) hit his 21st double of the season, driving in the Twins first run of the game, in the first inning…it was his third double in his last four games…coming into Tuesday his 20 doubles on the season were tied ninth in the AL.

3. MIGUEL SANO (2-for-3) hit his first career major league home run with a two-run shot in the first inning off Gausman…Sano has a hit in each of his first six major league games…in those six games he is batting .450 (9-for-20)…he walked with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, recording his third run of the game…he collected his third multi-hit game of the season with a single in the seventh inning…Sano has been retired just three times in the last three games.

4. JOE MAUER (2-for-4) has a hit in nine of his last 10 starts at Target Field, batting .306 (11-for-36) with two doubles, two home runs, two RBI and six runs in those 10 starts…over his last four games he is batting .529 (9-for-17) with a double, a home run and two RBI…Mauer scored three runs in Tuesday’s game, the most since he also scored three on June 23, 2013 at CLE…tonight marked the eighth time this season Mauer reached base three-or-more times in a game.

5. KURT SUZUKI (3-for-4) collected his third three-hit game of the season, tying his season-high…it was his first since June 4 at BOS.