The surging Baltimore Orioles will aim to take a five-game winning streak into the All-Star break when they attempt to complete a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins on Sunday in Minneapolis

Right-hander Kyle Gibson (8-6, 4.73 ERA), no stranger to Target Field, will take the mound for the Orioles and will be opposed by right-hander Joe Ryan (8-5, 3.42)

The 35-year-old Gibson was a first-round pick of Minnesota in the 2009 MLB Draft and played for the Twins from 2013-19. He will be making his 97th career appearance and 96th career start at Target Field, where he has compiled a 32-36 record and 4.70 ERA. He is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in one career start against the Twins

“It would be great to close out the first half with a win tomorrow,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said after the Orioles defeated the Twins 6-2 on Saturday afternoon. “Hopefully Gibby pitches well and we get a well-deserved break for these guys.

Baltimore had lost 12 of its previous 13 meetings in Minneapolis entering the series, which began with a 3-1 victory in 10 innings on Friday night.

The Orioles parlayed six singles and two walks into six runs in the second inning on Saturday against Twins starter Sonny Gray en route to a 6-1 lead. Adam Frazier led the way with a two-run single and Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander added RBI singles. Two other runs scored on back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Colton Cowser and Ramon Urias

“You start to get a little bit too fine, because things are not going your way,” said Gray, who blanked the Orioles on two hits over six innings in his previous start on July 2. “I felt good. I felt good and then the second inning, you just look up and they’re poking it the other way, they’re staying inside, they’re just hitting it in the holes.

Baltimore didn’t garner a hit in the other eight innings of the contest.

“They like to make it tough on me,” Hyde joked. “We didn’t hit the ball extremely hard but we put the ball in play. Used the whole field. A lot of opposite-field hits. Had him on the ropes there and then lined into an (inning-ending) double play. Just had no offense after that and had to hold on tight.”

The six-run second inning was more than enough for Orioles starter Tyler Wells, who picked up his seventh win of the season by allowing just two runs on six hits over six innings

One bright spot for the Twins was the hitting of first baseman Donovan Solano, who had three doubles and an RBI in four at-bats

“He’s on fire,” Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s swinging the bat great. He’s making good adjustments. He’s hitting fastballs. He’s hitting off-speed pitches. He’s shooting the ball. He’s pulling the ball. That’s what it looks like when a guy is really, really swinging the bat good.”

The Twins (45-45), who fell a half-game behind first-place Cleveland in the American League Central with Saturday’s loss, need to salvage a win in the finale to avoid going into the All-Star break with a sub-.500 record

Ryan is 1-4 with a 5.18 ERA in his past seven starts. He is 0-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two career starts against Baltimore.

–Field Level Media