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Sports
The Associated Press

Rivera hits 2 HRs and drives in 4 runs as the playoff-bound Orioles beat the Twins 9-2

a baseball player reacts
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Zebby Matthews (52) reacts after a 2-run home run by Baltimore Orioles' Ryan O'Hearn during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, in Minneapolis.
Abbie Parr | AP

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Emmanuel Rivera went 4 for 4 with two homers and four RBIs to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 9-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.

Ryan O’Hearn also homered and Jackson Holliday added three hits for the Orioles, who have clinched the top wild card in the American League and will face either the Kansas City Royals or Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs.

“A lot of guys have played really well on this road trip, so I’m encouraged how we’re playing going into the postseason,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, whose team has won four of five games this week in series against the Yankees and Twins.

Brooks Lee had two hits for the Twins, who have lost six of their last seven and were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday. Ryan Jeffers helped the Twins avoid the shutout with a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.

Baltimore used Matt Bowman as its opener and he got the first four outs. Lefty Tucker Davidson (1-0), making his first appearance for the Orioles after spending the season in Triple-A, allowed four hits over 4 2/3 shutout innings to earn the victory.

“He’s pitched in some big games in his career and had a nice year in Triple-A,” Hyde said of Davidson. “It was awesome to see him get an opportunity and take full advantage of it tonight.”

Twins starter Zebby Matthews (1-4) lasted just three innings, allowing six runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Matthews began the season at Class-A Cedar Rapids and worked his way through three minor league levels before making his major league debut on August 13, after the Twins lost starters Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack to injury.

Matthews won his debut, but the Twins went 2-6 in his last eight starts. Still, manager Rocco Baldelli said Matthews would be a candidate for the Twins rotation next spring.

“The ascent was really fast. You don’t see guys pitching in A ball and then starting in September for a team in the middle of a run at the end of the year where a team needs to win games,” Baldellis said. “He did himself very well.”

O’Hearn hit his second homer in as many nights in the first inning, a two-run shot just inside the left field foul pole, giving the Orioles the early lead.

Rivera drove a slider from Matthews into the bullpens in left-center to extend the Baltimore lead to 4-0 in the second inning. He added a double in the third, a solo homer in the fifth and a single in the ninth for the first four-hit game of his career.

“It was something really special. I think every baseball player hopes to have a night like tonight and thankfully I was able to have that one tonight,” Rivera said through an interpreter.

Up next

The Twins will start RHP Bailey Ober (12-8, 3.94) in Sunday's season finale. The Orioles will send RHP Albert Suárez (8-7, 3.74) to the mound for his final tune-up before the postseason.