Triple-A by the Minnesota Twins three times apiece this season Chris Lindstrom Jersey , and the All-Star break is still more than one week away.

Their contributions to this struggling team on Thursday night were sure worthy of a longer stay.

Slegers picked up his first major league win with six smooth innings, Cave reached base all four times he batted, and the Twins stopped their six-game losing streak by hanging on for a 5-2 victory over the lowly Baltimore Orioles.

”I know that I think, and I know Slegers thinks the same thing, that we can play big league baseball,” Cave said. ”We’re ready to go anytime the team needs us, and that’s just kind of how you’ve got to think of it.”

Logan Morrison homered and Cave drove in an eighth-inning insurance run with one of his two doubles for the Twins, who turned to Fernando Rodney in the ninth for his 18th save following two consecutive blown chances. Slegers (1-0) gave up only one run, on the first of two homers by Jonathan Schoop.

”It’s fun to have that in the stat column, to be a major league winner,” Slegers said. ”I can say that for the rest of my life.”

With eight right-handers in the Orioles lineup, except for Chris Davis, Slegers put his sinker to good use against the second-lowest scoring team in MLB. The Orioles managed just three hits against the 6-foot-10 Slegers http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/a … ary-jersey , who was the latest to fill the recently revolving fifth spot in the rotation. Manager Paul Molitor stopped short of a commitment, but he indicated Slegers earned another turn after needing only 72 pitches to complete those six innings in his first major league start this season.

”Sometimes you make tough decisions to protect those young guys when they’ve had good outings and make sure they feel good when they come out of the game,” Molitor said.

The Orioles squandered another quality start by Andrew Cashner (2-9) and lost for the 10th time in 11 games. They have the worst record in the major leagues at 24-62, just the team the Twins needed to face to start a season-long 11-game homestand after a pivotal 1-8 road trip.

Trailing AL Central-leading Cleveland by 11 1/2 games, Minnesota has become a probable seller before the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31 with several accomplished players on expiring contracts. Baltimore has essentially been in that boat since April, with slugging shortstop Manny Machado widely considered the best asset on the market this summer.

CASHED OUT

Cashner, one of the offseason acquisitions by the Orioles that suggested their commitment to contending in the daunting AL East, has had more than three runs scored for him in only one of his 17 starts this year. He gave up three runs, two earned, and six hits.

”It’s not like we didn’t want to score for him,” Schoop said. ”I hope things start changing.”

Orioles starters have received the least amount of run support in the major leagues this season.

”I probably had the worst stuff I’ve had this season, but I thought I just grinded throughout the game,” Cashner said. ”When you’re not scoring runs Kendall Sheffield Jersey , I feel like I keep my mind sharp on what I want to do out there and thinking pitch to pitch.”

WHOOPS

Cashner was charged with an error in the third, when he was covering first base on a chopper hit by Bobby Wilson to Davis and fumbled the relay toss to let Cave score from second. Wilson eventually scored on a single by Eddie Rosario.

WHIFFS

Rodney struck out Davis to start a perfect ninth, pushing the sputtering slugger into a first-place tie on the Orioles list for strikeouts with 1,305. He is tied with Cal Ripken Jr., who played 3,001 games for Baltimore. Davis has appeared in 972 contests.

MAN, CAVE

Cave, who was recalled from Rochester last week, made a fully extended catch at the wall in right-center to take a potential extra-base hit away from Davis in the fourth inning. Cave doubled twice, driving in one run, to go with a single and an intentional walk.

”He can really flash it out there,” Slegers said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: RHP Darren O’Day (strained left hamstring) has been scheduled for his season-ending surgery on July 12. He’ll need six months to recover.

DOZIER’S DAY

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier, who has started 80 of 84 games and appeared in all but one this season http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/a … sky-jersey , went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He’s batting .218.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Dylan Bundy (6-7, 3.75 ERA) will come off the DL to start Friday night. Bundy has been sidelined by a sprained left ankle.

Twins: RHP Lance Lynn (5-7, 5.49 ERA) will take the mound in the second game of the series, coming off his worst turn of the season. He gave up seven runs in Chicago to the Cubs in just 1 2/3 innings.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP)If the Atlanta Falcons end up just missing the NFL postseason, they’ll have to spend a long offseason regretting a cornucopia of mistakes in a 23-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints. If amassing 10 penalties for 91 yards and finishing 2 of 13 on third downs wasn’t bad enough, coming away with nothing from inside the New Orleans 2-yard line was even more damaging. ”We had two chances, really, from having the ball at the 1-yard line and to come away with zero points; that’s kind of the tale of the day,” said Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who finished 22 of 36 for 288 yards with one touchdown and an interception. For Devonta Freeman, those two empty possessions will define his Sunday. He came in with three fumbles this season, all recovered by the Falcons, and only two penalties called on him. He left Sunday with one lost fumble Qadree Ollison Jersey , two critical penalties and a failed fourth-and-1 near the goal line. ”On the fumble, that was my fault.” Freeman said. ”And when they stopped me on the 1-yard line, my fault again. I feel like no matter what play is called, you’ve got to get in the end zone and score and I’ve got to protect the ball. I’ve got to do better at that.” Freeman’s first foible came after Falcons linebacker Dion Jones, a New Orleans native, intercepted Drew Brees on the second play of the third quarter and returned it to Saints 2. The Atlanta running back was stopped at the line, allowing New Orleans’ Tyeler Davison to reach in and dislodge the ball. Manti Te’o recovered, ending a Falcons threat that would have pulled Atlanta to 13-7 early in the third quarter. ”I’ve got to know those situations,” said Freeman, who finished with 36 yards rushing. ”I’ve got to know I’ve got to do better. I’ve got to know guys are reaching for the ball – every play, not just the goal line.” Nearly a full quarter later, Atlanta again had a chance to cut into New Orleans’ lead. Julio Jones caught Ryan’s pass with his feet in the end zone on third-and-goal, but officials ruled the ball did not cross the goal line. Freeman’s fourth-down failure came after Dan Quinn’s fruitless video replay challenge. New Orleans’ Hau’oli Kikaha and Ken Crawley converged on Freeman at the line Marquise Brown Jersey , keeping Freeman out of the end zone ”He’s made so many plays for us throughout the years that we trust him as much as anybody on this team to go out and perform, and he will,” Ryan said. ”He’s going to. He’s going to perform at a high level for us moving forward.” Yet, Sunday’s loss wasn’t just on Freeman. Of Atlanta’s 10 penalties, four drew pre-snap flags. ”We’ve got to recognize there’s going to be some aggressive fouls when you’re playing a thousand miles per hour,” Quinn said. ”Those are part of the game. The ones we can control are pre-snap ones.” Now the Falcons are in a win-and-in playoff situation at home against Carolina next Sunday. ”We’ve got to keep knocking games off and find ways to get the job done, but we’ve got to play better than we did today,” Ryan said. —