Twins blanked by O’s; 13 whiffs

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a season-high 10 over seven-plus scoreless innings for his first win with Baltimore, and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run home run to pad the lead for the Orioles in a 3-0 victory on Friday over the Minnesota Twins.

Jimenez (1-4) allowed only three hits while taking a significant step forward from five rough starts to begin his $50 million, four-year contract with the Orioles. Jimenez dropped his ERA from 6.59 to 5.19, after leaving with one out in the eighth following Eduardo Escobar's double.

Zach Britton stranded the runner with a groundout and a called third strike on Joe Mauer, and Tommy Hunter picked up his eighth save in nine tries by pitching the ninth. Trevor Plouffe led off with a double, but Hunter struck out the next two and ended the game on a groundout.

Ricky Nolasco (2-3) gave the Twins a complete game, giving up nine hits and one walk while striking out six for his eighth career nine-inning appearance.

The Twins and O's meet in the second game of the series this afternoon with Minnesota's Kevin Correia looking for his first win of the season ( 0-3   7.33 ).  First pitch at 1:10.  Coverage on KROC AM begins at 12:40.