James McCann hit a three-run home run, Jordan Westburg drove in a pair and the Baltimore Orioles pulled away for a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Heston Kjerstad hit a solo home run for Baltimore (91-71), which completed a three-game sweep to finish the regular season. The Orioles will return home to host the Kansas City Royals in the American League wild-card series, beginning Tuesday.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. hit his first career home run for Minnesota (82-80). Carlos Santana hit a solo shot for the Twins, who finished the season with 27 losses in their last 39 games to squander a shot at the postseason.
Orioles right-hander Albert Suarez (9-7) allowed two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out four, and he threw 48 of 71 pitches for strikes.
Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (12-9) allowed three runs on five hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out four.
Minnesota opened the scoring in the second. Santana pulled a 393-foot shot to left-center field for his 23rd homer of the season and No. 324 of his career.
The Twins made it 2-0 in the third. Keirsey led off the inning with a 368-foot blast to right for his first homer in six career games.
The 27-year-old reached the majors this season — six years after the Twins drafted him in the fourth round out of Utah. He has hit 43 homers across six seasons in the minor leagues.
McCann gave Baltimore a 3-2 lead in the fifth. He belted a changeup over the wall in left for a three-run shot that marked his eighth homer of the season.
The Orioles added two runs in the seventh. Westburg delivered a two-out, two-run single that drove in Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn.
Kjerstad hit a solo homer in the eighth to finish the scoring. His drive to center, which traveled 414 feet, gave him four homers in 39 games this season.
— Field Level Media
