Tyler Wells spent the first five years of his professional baseball career envisioning himself as a Twins pitcher.
Yet when he took to the Target Field mound Sunday, it was to lead the Orioles to a 3-1 victory. Baltimore is the only team Wells has ever known in his two major league seasons, after the Twins lost him in the 2020 Rule 5 draft.
"It's cool because this is where I thought I'd be, and obviously, I'm not," Wells said. "… I think the fun part about it is playing against the guys that I came up with. … I have a lot of really strong feelings for those guys. I care about them a lot."
Twins starter Devin Smeltzer wouldn't exactly call it a good time facing off against his former Class AA teammate. While Wells (7-4) held the Twins hitless until the fifth inning and achieved a career-high seven strikeouts through his six innings, Smeltzer (4-2) surrendered the three solo home runs — including back-to-back ones from Trey Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle in the sixth — that granted the Orioles the victory.
Smeltzer gave up six hits and a walk with just three strikeouts in his six-inning outing. Wells gave up only three hits and one walk, with the Twins' lone run coming on an RBI single from Jorge Polanco in the sixth.
"I'm happy for him. I don't love seeing it against us," Smeltzer said. "I'd love to see him get mashed around, just from the competitive aspect."
If there is any consolation for Smeltzer, it's that the Twins are still 45-37 and two games ahead in the AL Central. Wells' Orioles are 36-44 in last place in the AL East.
Sunday actually marked the first game of the second half of the season for the Twins. Should they perform as they have in the first 81 games, they are on track for a 90-win season and a postseason berth.