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Bailey Ober leads Twins to fifth straight victory

betsy helfand, pioneer press
·4 min read

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Bailey Ober began his previous start with 4⅓ no-hit innings against the Detroit Tigers. He outdid himself on Friday, despite fending off a stomach bug, making his start all-the-more impressive.

The Twins starter threw five hitless innings before a soft fly ball dropped between shortstop Willi Castro and center fielder Byron Buxton to break up his no-hit bid, part of a strong performance in which Ober threw 7⅓ innings to help lead the Twins to a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.

It was the Twins’ fifth straight victory and brings them within a game of .500 after a dreadful start. In spite of his illness, Ober’s start matched the longest of his career.

“When a guy’s sick, you don’t know if he’s fine or if he’s going to keel over or something in between,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “ … He didn’t look sick, that’s for sure. He pitched about as well as you could pitch and then stayed strong as the game went on.”

Before the game, Ober was just trying to keep everything down. He sipped some water and took some medicine, trying to rid himself of the illness.

Once the game started, he just took the ball and threw it, racking up outs quickly and efficiently. Ober gave up just three hits in his outing and struck out eight.

“I feel like you take pressure off yourself to perform just because you know you’re not feeling great out there,” Ober said. “You’re just kind of going out there and not thinking about too much and trying to execute pitches, and that’s basically it.”

Ober retired the first nine batters before issuing a leadoff walk to Angels star Mike Trout in the fourth. After catcher Christian Vázquez wiped Trout off the bases, Ober walked the next batter, as well.

But for the most part, he was pounding the strike zone and inducing weak contact. His changeup was a particularly effective pitch, as he racked up 10 of his 12 swing-and-misses on the pitch.

“It felt really good today,” Ober said. “I felt like the biggest thing was just my hand speed with the pitch, treating it like a fastball, other than just the grip being a little bit different. And I was just able to locate down and get some bad swings.”

Ober, who gave up a run in the sixth inning, left in the eighth after retiring the first batter and then allowing a double to Zach Neto. The long outing from Ober was especially important for the Twins after they had used their top two relievers — Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart — on consecutive days.

Though an inherited runner scored after his departure, Ober’s strong start was backed by just enough run support, starting with Carlos Santana’s second home run in as many days. Santana, who did not have a home run with Minnesota until Thursday, launched a ball to center field, giving the Twins (12-13) a lead they would hold the rest of the night.

They tacked on their second run an inning later, when Byron Buxton’s sharply hit ball brought home Castro. Ryan Jeffers’ single over leaping shortstop Neto scored Castro in the fifth inning, and Santana’s second hit of the night, which bounced off the mound and then second baseman Luis Rengifo’s glove, produced the Twins’ fourth run.

All four runs came off left-handed starter Patrick Sandoval, who threw just 13 fastballs among his 99 pitches. The Twins adjusted their game plan quickly to account for that.

“We were seeing he was mixing a lot of offspeed down low,” Castro said. “He was mixing a lot down low so we were just trying to get it up, see it up. From there, just attack and be ready every pitch.”

Castro’s third hit — a double which brought home Austin Martin — provided an important insurance run, especially because reliever Matt Bowman ran into trouble in the ninth inning, walking a pair of batters to bring the tying run to the plate.

Caleb Thielbar entered and allowed a run-scoring hit before retiring Trout to end the game and continue the Twins’ winning streak.

“We’re playing really good baseball from top to bottom, pitching side and hitting,” Ober said. “We’re getting timely hits and everyone’s just, I feel like, really locked in right now and having just a little bit better vibes and having fun.”

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