Brach hoping to get another save chance tonight (O's lose 6-2)

Though the blown save came on opening day, Orioles reliever Brad Brach is treating it like only one game out of 162. Time to move on from it. And if there's another save situation tonight, he wants the ball.

Brach gave up Robbie Grossman's two-run single in the ninth inning Thursday that erased a 2-0 lead and set up Adam Jones' dramatic walk-off homer in the 11th. He walked two batters, but he also was victimized by a chopper that first baseman Chris Davis lost in the lights and Grossman's broken-bat blooper into center field.

Eleven of Brach's 34 pitches were thrown to Max Kepler, who drew a walk.

"Just got to finish the game," he said earlier today. "I got two outs, two strikes, I had him buried in the count, and sometimes you've just got to give the hitter credit. Kepler fouled off everything I threw. I told Caleb (Joseph) I was about to drop down and throw a fastball because I had thrown him everything else and he fouled everything off.br

"I really wanted to finish, and I thought I had him. Threw a bunch of pitches and he was just able to foul them off, and then Grossman with the bloop single to center, that's baseball. It's a game of inches. Just got to finish, though. There were a few times last year, two outs, two strikes and I blew a save and I just want to continue to be able to finish a game off when you get that close."

Every good late-inning reliever has a short memory. Brach can't dwell on the opener.

"I think the sooner you get the ball the better and that's all I'm looking forward to," he said. "It's almost like a new season. It was great having the off-day yesterday because it's kind of a wash. We won, it was a walk-off win, it was a great team win, so maybe I sparked the offensive there and we'll keep it going."

Jones destroyed the first pitch thrown to him by Fernando Rodney leading off the 11th and the Orioles had their third straight walk-off win on opening day.

"It was awesome," Brach said. "I was just so happy we won because Dylan (Bundy) pitched such a good game. That's the worst part about when you blow saves, you blew a win for one of your teammates, so it's just one of those things where you're just hoping that we can come back and get the win. And when he walked off there, it was just relief that I hadn't cost us a win that day."

I wrote earlier that Alex Cobb probably won't debut with the Orioles before April 14 because they want him to build up to six innings down below after working four yesterday in extended spring training.

"It could be later than that," said manager Buck Showalter. "We're not going to put any ... but I can tell you that's the earliest you'd see him."

The six-inning start would come with Cobb on Double-A Bowie's roster on April 9, but "in some form not in Sarasota," Showalter said.

"He doesn't necessarily have to pitch for them in that game. One of the problems you have in a situation like this is they don't let you use a major league baseball, which really doesn't make much sense at all. One, to have two different baseballs, and a lot of guys don't want to throw the minor league ball, I'm sure. They're going to have the same issue with Jake Arrieta in Clearwater.

"Alex will not throw that baseball, so if they make him throw it, and that's where they're going, we're going to come up with another plan. Crazy, isn't it?"

The raised stitches on the minor league ball can place more of a strain on the elbow, and Cobb's already undergone Tommy John surgery. Hence, the Orioles' concerns about having him pitch for Bowie.

Bundy gets an extra day of rest before his next outing, which comes Wednesday in Houston.

"Just because Dylan's off to a good start and pitched real well doesn't mean we're just going to start pitching him every fifth day 120 pitches and throw caution to the wind," Showalter said. "We're not going to do that with any of our guys. Not just Dylan. So you'll see him get an extra day next time out."

Mike Wright Jr. will Tuesday make his first start since June 17, 2016, when he faced the Blue Jays and allowed eight runs in 3 2/3 innings. He made 13 relief appearances last summer.

Update: Miguel Sanó homered off Andrew Cashner with two outs in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Cashner struck out two batters.

Update II: Jason Castro led off the third inning with a home run, Brian Dozier singled, Joe Mauer doubled and Sanó grounded out to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.

Update III: Kepler homered with one out in the fourth to give Minnesota a 4-0 lead.

Update IV: The Twins scored again in the fifth on two walks, a throwing error by Caleb Joseph and Sano's double play grounder to lead 5-0.

Update V: Brian Dozier scored the Twins' final run in the seventh on a Joe Mauer single. Jonathan Schoop broke up the Twins' bid for a combined no-hitter with a two-hit single up the middle off Ryan Pressly. The O's finally got on the board in the ninth when Tim Beckham homered off Gabriel Moya, but it wasn't enough. Final score: Twins 6, Orioles 2.