Minnesota
Minnesota Twins routed by Baltimore Orioles 15-2
MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Santander hit two of Baltimore’s six homers and the Orioles completed a sweep of the Minnesota Twins with a 15-2 victory on Sunday.
Aaron Hicks added a three-run homer against his former team in the Orioles’ seven-run fifth. Austin Hays, Ramón Urías and Adley Rutschman also went deep for Baltimore.
Baltimore closed the first half of the season on a five-game winning streak after losing four straight.
“We’ve been playing these last five games extremely well,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Our starting pitching has been the key. We showed our power today. I feel like we were in a power drought a little bit there for a little while, but these guys showed you how much power they have.”
After scoring seven runs in the fifth, the Orioles’ offense continued to roll in the sixth with six more runs. Rutschman — who will compete in the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday in Seattle — launched a career-long, 461-foot two-run drive in the sixth off reliever Cole Sands.
Santander followed with a solo shot, the first time this season the Orioles hit back-to-back home runs. He homered again in the seventh for his team-leading 16th of the year.
Twins select Walker Jenkins fifth overall in MLB draft
“Great first half for everybody as a team,” Santander said. “I think it’s good momentum to keep playing like this the second half.”
It’s the second time in four games Baltimore scored at least 14 runs. They scored 14 against the Yankees in the series finale Thursday.
Baltimore headed into the break with a 54-35 record, two games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the American League East. The loss dropped the Twins to 45-46, a half game back of Cleveland in the AL Central.
“We put ourselves in a position where we can still go out there, play some good baseball, accomplish everything we want to accomplish,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “No doors are closed right now, which I think is a silver lining, even after a game like today.”
Former Twin Kyle Gibson (9-6) was sharp against his old club. The right-hander struck out 11 and allowed just three hits in seven innings, two of them to Edouard Julien. The Twins second baseman drove in the game’s first run with a double in the first and hit a solo homer in the sixth.
Not known as a high-strikeout pitcher throughout his career, Gibson tied his career high Sunday with 11.
“I’ve had months where I haven’t struck out 11 guys in my career,” Gibson said. “To do it in one game is really special. I think I still have just as many zero strikeout games as I do double-digit strikeout games.”
Baltimore chased Twins starter Joe Ryan (8-6) from the game after just 4 2/3 innings. Ryan finished with a season-high 10 strikeouts, including the first eight outs he recorded. But he ran into trouble in the fifth before getting pulled after 98 pitches.
Despite Sunday’s outing, Minnesota enters the break with the second-best ERA (3.64) among all starting rotations in the majors.
“We have a little bit more potential to show and capitalize on, some talents that we haven’t really done as well in the first half,” Ryan said. “Hopefully everyone can take a couple days, and then also focus up and hone in on what they can control, and what we can control as a group.”
TRAINERS ROOM
Orioles: Prior to Sunday’s game, Baltimore activated infielder Ryan Mountcastle (vertigo) from the 10-day injured list and optioned LHP Bruce Zimmermann to Triple-A Norfolk. Mountcastle hadn’t played since June 8 and was officially placed on the IL on June 13. He wasn’t in the starting lineup Sunday but had a pinch hit RBI single in the fifth inning.
Twins: INF Jorge Polanco, who hasn’t played since June 8 with a left hamstring strain, could begin his rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul as soon as next weekend, said Derek Falvey, the Twins’ President of Baseball Operations. “All signs really point to good news,” Falvey said.
UP NEXT
Both teams enter the All-Star break.
Minnesota
Goalie Nicole Hensley stars as league-leading Minnesota Frost top New York Sirens in shootout | CBC Sports
Nicole Hensley made back-to-back saves in the shootout and the Minnesota Frost earned their fourth straight victory with a 4-3 win over the New York Sirens on Sunday in Newark, N.J.
It was the fourth time in seven all-time meetings that a game between the teams was decided in OT and the second this season. New York won the season opener in St. Paul, Minn.
Kendall Coyne Schofield scored two first-period goals to stake the Frost to the early lead and Taylor Heise beat Kayle Osborne, who relieved starter Abigail Levy in the New York net to start the second period, two minutes in to make it a 3-0 lead.
WATCH l Heise scores shootout winner:
But Osborne did not allow another goal in regulation and wasn’t seriously challenged in overtime while the Sirens staged a comeback. Brooke Hobson and Elizabeth Giguere each scored in the second period and Alex Carpenter pounced on a loose puck and lifted a shot over Hensley’s shoulder from deep in the face-off circle to tie the game midway through the third period.
Hensley was brilliant in overtime, turning away four close-in, open shots by the Sirens (2-1-1-1), two of them on breakaway chances.
Minnesota (4-0-1-0) got goals from Denisa Křížová, Grace Zumwinkle and Heise in the shootout. Noora Tulus and Carpenter each converted in the shootout for New York, but Hensley came up with a save on Sarah Fillier before stopping the final two shooters for the Sirens.
Hensley finished with 33 saves on 36 shots to earn the win. Osborne made 18 saves on 19 shots over her 45 minutes in goal for New York. Carpenter’s two-goal effort lifted her past Coyne Schofield and into the league lead with four goals in her first five games and she now has a league-leading seven points.
WATCH l Sirens’ Fillier, Carpenter test their off-ice chemistry:
Minnesota
Unique northern Minnesota border airport closing after 70 years
A northern Minnesota airport with an unusual claim to fame is closing after 70 years of operation.
The Piney-Pinecreek Border Airport near Roseau is the only airport with a paved runway crossing the U.S.-Canada border.
The border airport opened in 1953 to expedite customs processing for air travelers and was regularly used by hunters and anglers flying to Canada.
Initially, the airport had a grass runway that ended at the border, but in 1978 a runway expansion added a paved runway that extended into Canada.
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Customs agents would meet travelers on either side of the border.
But declining usage and significant impending repair costs led to the decision to close the one of a kind operation, said Ryan Gaug, director of the Minnesota Department of Transportation aeronautics office.
“We know that the pavement condition has declined significantly over the years and will need a reconstruct most likely in the next one to three years,” said Gaug.
Short-term costs to bring the facility up to safety standards is estimated at $3.8 million.
Piney-Pinecreek is the only airport owned by MnDOT, and it is operated in collaboration with the Rural Municipality of Piney, Manitoba.
A Canadian official said the local government could not raise the money to pay its share of the planned improvement costs and Piney officials ended the joint operations agreement.
Gaug said an estimated 200 airplanes a year use the facility, far lower than traffic at similar sized facilities.
There are six airports on the U.S.-Canada border, but Piney-Pinecreek is the only one with a paved runway.
“It’s always been the No. 1 fun fact that I’ve shared with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues here at MnDOT,” said Gaug.
“It’s a tough decision to close an airport ever, but the evidence was all there that now was the time,” he said.
There are no local airplanes based at the airport.
“It’s very sad for the community to lose its airport,” said Marlin Elton, a local resident who served on the airport commission and helped maintain the facility for 30 years.
Elton said the closure hasn’t raised concerns in the community because “if you don’t fly, it won’t affect you. The ones who will be affected are the pilots who use it.”
Gaug said MnDOT reached out to pilots and aviation groups to gauge support for keeping the airport open but found “there just isn’t a strong user base for this airport and that also led to not a strong local support fighting to keep this airport.”
The final day of operations for the Piney-Pinecreek airport is Dec. 26.
Minnesota
NEXT Weather: 10 p.m. report for Minnesota from Dec. 21, 2024
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