MINNEAPOLIS -- This was the Ubaldo Jimenez the Orioles had been waiting for.The much-maligned right-hander, signed to a four-year, $50-million deal this winter, found a home in the same division he spent most of the past three seasons, turning in a gem Friday night at Target Field that finally helped show his new club why Jimenez was worth the investment.Eclipsing his season high in strikeouts before the fifth inning ended, Jimenez fanned 10 over an electric 7 1/3 scoreless innings en route to his first win for the O's, a 3-0 victory over the Twins that followed a miserable April for the starter. The win, Jimenez's first in six tries this season, marked a season high in innings and pitches thrown (118) and was the first time he allowed fewer than three runs. 
Highlighted by a monster two-run homer from the red-hot Nelson Cruz, Jimenez paved the way for the O's third straight win, holding the Twins to just three hits -- Tommy Hunter allowed one more in a scoreless ninth -- in a game that was a long time coming for the organization's biggest commitment to a free-agent starter. Jimenez recorded at least one strikeout an inning, fanning the side in the third, and exited in favor of lefty Zach Britton after Eduardo Escobar's one-out double.Britton recorded the final two outs of the inning to keep the shutout intact.Cruz, who has carried an Orioles lineup that is missing slugger Chris Davis, sent Twins starter Ricky Nolasco's 1-1 offering off the railing of the third deck for a mammoth two-run shot in the sixth inning that sailed an estimated 424 feet. The homer also scored Manny Machado, who had collected his first hit of the season. Cruz, who also doubled and scored in the fourth, has eight homers and 27 RBIs, leading the team in both categories as the offseason acquisition continues his torrid start to the season.The O's got on the board off Nolasco courtesy of Matt Wieters' double off the wall. The Orioles catcher, who also doubled in the second, has had multihit games in six of his past seven.The trio of runs was plenty for Jimenez, who twice pitched around leadoff singles and navigated past a two-out fielding error in the fifth. Following Sam Fuld's single in the third inning, Jimenez did not allow another hit until Escobar's in the seventh.Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
Highlighted by a monster two-run homer from the red-hot Nelson Cruz, Jimenez paved the way for the O's third straight win, holding the Twins to just three hits -- Tommy Hunter allowed one more in a scoreless ninth -- in a game that was a long time coming for the organization's biggest commitment to a free-agent starter. Jimenez recorded at least one strikeout an inning, fanning the side in the third, and exited in favor of lefty Zach Britton after Eduardo Escobar's one-out double.Britton recorded the final two outs of the inning to keep the shutout intact.Cruz, who has carried an Orioles lineup that is missing slugger Chris Davis, sent Twins starter Ricky Nolasco's 1-1 offering off the railing of the third deck for a mammoth two-run shot in the sixth inning that sailed an estimated 424 feet. The homer also scored Manny Machado, who had collected his first hit of the season. Cruz, who also doubled and scored in the fourth, has eight homers and 27 RBIs, leading the team in both categories as the offseason acquisition continues his torrid start to the season.The O's got on the board off Nolasco courtesy of Matt Wieters' double off the wall. The Orioles catcher, who also doubled in the second, has had multihit games in six of his past seven.The trio of runs was plenty for Jimenez, who twice pitched around leadoff singles and navigated past a two-out fielding error in the fifth. Following Sam Fuld's single in the third inning, Jimenez did not allow another hit until Escobar's in the seventh.Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com
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