Beckham drilled Lynn’s first offering to the deepest part of Target Field, but Cave raced to the wall, leapt, reached back and caught the ball while fully extended to deny a home run.
”It’s up there with actually hitting a home run, it’s cool to be able to help the pitcher like that and take one back,” Cave said.
Beckham tipped his cap to the Twins’ rookie.
”That’s pretty cool for him to do that. I’m sure he’s made a lot of great plays against guys in his career, so he knows what it feels like to do something like that,” Cave said.
It was the second straight day Cave made a fully extended catch at the wall. He robbed Chris Davis in right-center Thursday.
”I definitely didn’t want to start the game by giving up a solo home run. One heck of a play and I was able to get into a rhythm after that,” Lynn said.
Lynn (6-7) allowed six hits and one earned run in six innings as he continued his up-and-down season. He allowed 11 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings over his previous two starts, including seven in 1 2/3 innings last Sunday at Wrigley Field. His ERA was 1.74 ERA in six starts from May 22 to June 20, but 7.47 in his first eight starts of the season.
”You’re gonna have your good ones and your bad ones,” he said.
Up 6-0, Lynn needed 27 pitches to get through the sixth when Baltimore scored its first run, including 10 against Jonathan Schoop, an at-bat that ended in a double play.
”I threw a couple pitches that I thought he’d do that earlier,” Lynn said. ”He covers a lot of the plate both sides and he finally hit a ball and we were able to turn it.”
Caleb Joseph had a season-high three hits for the Orioles, losers of four straight and 11 of 12.
In his first start since going on the disabled list June 23 with a left ankle sprain, Baltimore’s Dylan Bundy (6-8) allowed nine hits and five earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. It is his second-shortest start of the season. The right-hander allowed seven runs without recording an out May 8 vs. Kansas City.
Brian Dozier and Jorge Polanco had RBI singles in the first inning as Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead, increasing Bundy’s opening frame ERA to 9.00. It is 3.13 in innings two through nine.
Kepler made it 5-0 in the fourth with a two-run homer to right field.
Polanco, Joe Mauer, Eddie Rosario and Mitch Garver each had two hits for the Twins, who have won two straight after a six-game skid.
FRY IS FINE
In his third career game, Baltimore reliever Paul Fry struck out four and did not allow a hit in 2 1-3 innings. The left-hander was called up June 29.
”Pitching looks easy when you locate a fastball and spin a ball for a strike anytime in the count, but it’s not that easy. He was in a really good place today and you could tell,” said manager Buck Showalter.
TRAINERS ROOM
Orioles: To make room for Bundy, RHP David Hess was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. . INF Luis Sardi锟絘s (left ankle sprain) was reinstated from the 60-day disabled list. He cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Norfolk.
Twins: Manager Paul Molitor said there is a ”really good chance” INF Ehire Adrianza, out since July 2 with a left hamstring strain, will be ready to play when he can come off the DL next Thursday. . INF/OF Taylor Motter was activated off the 7-day DL (concussion-like symptoms) and optioned to Double-A Chattanooga.
UP NEXT
A pair of right-handers are scheduled to start Saturday with Baltimore’s Kevin Gausman (4-6, 4.05) facing Minnesota’s Kyle Gibson (2-6, 3.58). Gausman has allowed two or fewer runs in four straight starts. Gibson has allowed more than three earned runs just once in his last nine turns.
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Derek Dietrich was hoping for a chance at history but settled for a win in a torrid month for the Miami outfielder.
He homered for the third straight game, leading Miami over the Colorado Rockies 8-5 on Sunday.
Dietrich doubled, homered and singled in his first three at-bats but managed just a single in his last two trips to the plate before leaving in the seventh inning. He tied a career high with four hits. He would have been the first Marlins player ever to hit for the cycle.
”(John) Silverman, our longtime clubhouse manager, said, `No one’s ever hit for the cycle so if you would have hit it they would have brought you back for the all-anniversary,”’ Dietrich said. ”That would have been cool. There’s always tomorrow.”
Drew Rucinski got the win in relief of starter Caleb Smith, who exited in the second inning with left shoulder tightness.
Smith said he felt tightness on his second pitch to Tom Murphy to start the inning. He struck out Murphy on four pitches but after one pitch to Gerardo Parra, manager Don Mattingly and trainers immediately went to the mound. After a brief conversation, Smith left and Rucinski came on.
Mattingly said after the game Smith will go on the disabled list and will have an MRI done Monday.
”It’s super disappointing,” Smith said. ”The DL is the last place I want to be. I want to go out there every fifth day and help my team out.”
The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 31 minutes by a strong storm that dropped heavy rain and hail on Coors Field.
German Marquez (5-8) didn’t last long, either. He was tagged for six runs – five earned – in 3 1-3 innings. Miami’s first five batters reached against him during a three-run first inning.
Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer in the bottom half, his 18th, to make it 3-2. Arenado finished the 4-3 homestand with five home runs in the final six games. Colorado is 15-22 at Coors Field.
”Winning a homestand or not, we’ve got win series,” Arenado said. ”Homestand doesn’t mean nothing until we win the series. It has been frustrating lately.”
Parra also homered for Colorado.
Dietrich, who hit .438 on the nine-game road trip and is hitting .410 in June, led off the second with a home run, his 11th. He added an RBI single in a two-run seventh to give the Marlins a three-run cushion but was replaced in the outfield for the bottom of the inning.
”Trying to win a game. At the end of the day our best defense is on the field,” Mattingly said. ”You hate taking guys out. If it’s a one-run game probably couldn’t do it but I didn’t have any sense of Marlin history.”
Dietrich, who also had four hits at St. Louis on June 6, has one triple this season.
”This park has the most cycles in baseball,” Dietrich said. ”I don’t think you can force a triple so I was just trying to have a couple of more good at-bats.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: SS Miguel Rojas was out of the lineup for a second straight day with soreness from a bruise on his left hand. Rojas was hit by a pitch Friday night. Mattingly said Rojas was available to pinch hit.
Rockies: RHP Scott Oberg (back strain) and LHP Mike Dunn (shoulder strain) came out of Saturday’s rehab assignments in good shape, manager Bud Black said. ”We’re going to see how they are today. They’ll play catch and see how they feel, start moving around and then these next decisions will follow,” he said.
ROSTER MOVE
The Rockies placed shaky reliever Bryan Shaw on the 10-day disabled list with a right calf strain and recalled Yency Almonte from Triple-A Albuquerque. Shaw gave up a grand slam to J.T. Realmuto on Saturday and has struggled in his setup role with Colorado. He is 3-5 with a 7.57 ERA in 41 games after signing a three-year, $27 million in the offseason.
UP NEXT
Marlins: RHP Dan Straily (2-3, 4.89) will start Monday against Arizona while the appeal of his suspension is still pending. Straily was given a five-game suspension by Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing at San Francisco catcher Buster Posey on Tuesday night
Rockies: RHP Chad (5-1, 5.23) opens a three-game series in San Francisco on Tuesday night. He has a 6.00 ERA in two starts against the Giants this season.