Another worthy pitching effort goes by the wayside

It’s been this way before for the Orioles, even if it’s just a small sample size. When an inning looks promising at the plate, there are few examples of that promise turning into runs, and it continued Monday night against the Minnesota Twins at Camden Yards.

There were few opportunities as it was. But with runners on the corners with one out in the sixth inning, when a comeback from a one-run deficit seemed attainable, a soft bouncing ball off the bat of first baseman Ryan Mountcastle ended it just as swiftly — a double play to retire the side and preserve Minnesota’s eventual 2-1 victory.

For as lively as Sunday’s series-clinching victory against the Boston Red Sox had been — with the Orioles scoring a season-high nine runs — the offense didn’t carry over into the opener of a four-game series with the Twins.

So even as right-hander Tyler Wells set a promising table, a lack of production doomed Baltimore (8-15) to begin the series.

Wells blew through the first three innings on a combined 25 pitches. None of the first seven batters sent balls out of the infield, and none reached base until Luis Arraez singled in the fourth. That was the first sign of trouble for Wells, who needed 26 pitches to strand two runners in the fourth. While manager Brandon Hyde said pregame that Wells will infrequently reach five innings because of a post-Tommy John surgery limit, he returned for the fifth with 51 pitches.

A double from Trevor Larnach and an RBI single via Ryan Jeffers got the Twins on the board before a double play wiped out the threat and ended Wells’ night on 62 pitches.

The presence of Elrod’s Corner made itself felt — literally — for the first time this season, when Twins left fielder Nick Gordon slid into the left-center-field angle as he chased down a fly ball from Rougned Odor. It turned into a triple, and Ramón Urías immediately knocked Odor in with a sacrifice fly.

NOTES: Trey Mancini missed his third straight game with that rib injury suffered Friday while chasing down a ball. He said tests came back negative . ... Needing to cut the roster from 28 to 26 by Monday, the Orioles optioned outfielder Ryan McKenna to Triple-A Norfolk and designated third baseman Kelvin Gutiérrez for assignment.