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Christian Vazquez smacked a three-run homer and the Minnesota Twins extended their winning streak to nine games by beating the host Baltimore Orioles 6-3 in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon.

Brooks Lee also homered for the Twins. It was the first homer of the season for Vazquez, who joined teammates Trevor Larnach, Carlos Correa and Lee with two hits apiece.

Six Minnesota pitchers combined on a four-hitter, helping to mitigate the Orioles drawing six walks and the Twins committing four errors.

Gunnar Henderson, who had two of Baltimore’s hits, smacked a two-run homer in a three-run third inning. Ryan Mountcastle had the other two hits. The Orioles have lost seven of their last nine games.

Four of Minnesota’s victories in the winning streak have come against the Orioles.

Minnesota starter Bailey Ober lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out three. Brock Stewart (1-0) was awarded the victory as he fanned three straight batters in the sixth.

Dean Kremer (3-5) logged 5 2/3 innings for the Orioles and gave up four runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked two.

The Orioles took a 3-0 lead in the third as Mountcastle’s RBI double preceded Henderson’s sixth home run of the season. The advantage didn’t last long.

Lee’s leadoff homer in the fourth put the Twins on the board, then Vazquez’s three-run homer with two outs gave them the 4-3 lead.

The Orioles put two runners on base with two outs in the seventh before Ryan O’Hearn lined out to end the inning. They had two more base runners in the eighth before Griffin Jax struck out Ramon Urias. Baltimore had at least one runner on base in every inning except the second.

The Twins tacked on two insurance runs in the ninth — the first coming on Larnach’s double and the other on reliever Keegan Akin’s wild pitch.

The twin bill was necessary after Tuesday night’s postponement.

–Field Level Media