Twins 8, Tigers 6: Early Onslaught, Strong Bailey Ober Outing Earn Twins First Series Win

[Sherry Cerny]

Image courtesy of © Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober - 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (99 pitches, 64 strikes (64.6% strikes))
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Byron Buxton (0.11), Luke Keaschall (0.08), Bailey Ober (0.08)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Coming Out Swinging  
The Twins wasted no time setting the tone Wednesday night, coming out absolutely electric in the first inning against Framber Valdez. From the first pitch, it was everything fans had been craving—relentless pressure, smart baserunning, and clutch contact. Byron Buxton ignited the attack with a leadoff single, Austin Martin followed by wasting one of the team's ABS challenges on a first-pitch strike, but Valdez helped him out by hitting him in the foot with a second-pitch curveball. Luke Keaschall notched an infield single to load the bases, almost instantly.

Valdez, the expensive ace southpaw with whom Detroit envisioned pairing Tarik Skubal for a deep run into October, melted under the home side's light application of heat. A wild pitch brought Buxton flying home, while Martin and Keaschall scooted up.

Ryan Jeffers kept the momentum rolling with an RBI groundout, and Victor Caratini showed patience at the plate with a walk. Then Josh Bell delivered, flaring a single to left-center on which Keaschall got a poor read but made the right, aggressive play by racing home anyway. His flying slide beat the throw home, and it was 3-0 Minnesota.

Perhaps the biggest jolt came from Matt Wallner—who entered the game ice cold, at 0-for-20. He heated up like a pan-seared steak with a sizzling double to right field, eerily close to where his previous attempt had just gone foul. That swing brought Caratini home (a ribeye!) and pushed Bell to third, sending the crowd into a frenzy as the team's three beefiest sluggers showed what passes for their speed. With the energy surging, Royce Lewis stepped in and delivered the dagger: a sharp single to center that plated two more runs and blew the game open, at 6-0.

Lewis wasn’t done, swiping second and advancing to third, keeping the pressure alive until the inning finally came full circle—ending with Buxton, who started it all, grounding out to shortstop Javier Báez. Six runs, nonstop action, and a statement made loud and clear: the Twins haven't mentally made room for the Tigers atop the AL Central.

The top of the order combined to tack on another run in the fourth, thanks to Buxton's speed. He singled, advanced to second on a Martin groundout, and hared around on a Keaschall single to make it a 7-0 cushion.

After that, though, the hit parade ended abruptly. The Twins would score just once more, and the tone of the game changed significantly.

Holding on Tight
The Tigers would charge back to make a game of this (more on that in a moment), so Minnesota was lucky to have Ryan Jeffers catching again Wednesday. After Martin squandered one of their challenges early, they managed to retain the other into the late stages—at which point Jeffers flipped two crucial calls amid a Detroit rally, snatching two called third strikes initially not given by home plate umpire Steven Jaschinski.

Ober Shows, and Bullpen Woes
It was a great night for Bailey Ober, who continues to evolve into a kitchen-sink starter as he searches for mechanical efficiency and the velocity that he had two years ago. Turning more and more often to his trademark changeup and mixing in some new wrinkles (curveballs in the first two innings, instead of as late changes of pace; sweepers to lefties, acting like curves but looking more enticing out of the hand), he danced through five scoreless innings and appeared to have the team in cruise control.

Ober returned through the top of the sixth, but things started to slowly unravel. Derek Shelton got him out of there after a two-out Dillon Dingler single plated the second Detroit run; Justin Topa cleaned up the mess.

Anthony Banda was not able to keep things so calm. The Tigers bunched together four hits against him in the top of the seventh, and when he couldn't escape, Cole Sands came in to face Dingler—who, alas, again came through with a two-out knock, drawing the margin to 8-6.

The improbable high-leverage duo of Cody Laweryson and Kody Funderburk took the team the rest of the way, with some help from Jeffers.

Martin’s Defense continues to improve
The younger players have been inconsistent when it comes to making plays, but one reassuring development has come in left field. In 2024, Martin stepped in frequently during Buxton’s absence, and that gap was noticeable. He struggled with routine plays, poor reads, and missed opportunities that ultimately cost runs.

This season, however, something has clicked. Martin’s defense is starting to resemble that of his center-field mentor, Buxton. Even first base coach Grady Sizemore told Audra Martin in an interview before the game that during spring training, he saw a slight change in Martin (er, Austin, that is). So far, he’s been flawless, and he made three fine plays on Wednesday.

What’s Next?
The Twins finish out the series against the Tigers in a day game, before leaving the chilly temps in Minnesota and heading to Toronto—where, even if the weather isn't nicer, the playing conditions will be, since the Rogers Centre has a roof. The Twins will send Mick Abel to the mound (0-2, 11,05 ERA) in the series finale on getaway day, to face Jack Flaherty (0-1 7.54 ERA).  

Postgame Interviews 
Coming soon.

Bullpen Availability Chart
 

View full article

[Dman]

I have several thoughts.  First the pessimist in me had the Tigers likely sweeping the Twins.  When they won the first game I was relieved that we couldn't be swept.  When they won the second one I couldn't believe the teams good fortune to touch Skubal for 4 runs.  Getting past Framber seemed like asking for far too much and yet here in the upside down world the Twins live in it is the Tigers in danger of being swept and not the Twins.  Go figure.

The pen can be creaky, but so far they have gotten the job done for the most part.  If you would have told me they would be trusting Cody Lawyerson as the setup man I wouldn't have believed it.  He seems to have more trust from the manager than most of the other arms at least for the moment.  Turns out the arm they tried to pass through but got claimed should have likely been kept. Fortunately he found his way back.

After the way this team started, being at 6 and 6 seemed impossible three days ago.  If they can hang around .500 in May they might see fans showing up at the park yet.  This team seems like a house of cards, but winning these last three gives some measure of hope.  Especially if the Blue Jays and Red Sox continue to play poorly.

[jmlease1]

[insert ESPN Voice] "What if I told you that a Twins roster loaded with LH hitters and who suck at facing LHP took down two top LHP in 2 games?"

It's a good win, even if the bullpen wobbled with the big lead. Nice to see Ober have a good result. Definitely people around here who want to jettison him into the sun, so I'm hoping he makes them eat their words, possibly with a side of rosin.

Can't complain about the offense too much, with the exception of Brooks Lee, who continues to struggle. Good to see see Buxton and Lewis with multi-hit games; be great if they were both locking in and get on a run. Buck has looked close recently, and Royce has hit the ball hard as well, so good for them to get some good results.

3 straight against Detroit and a series win going into get-away day. Why not a sweep? Why the eff not?

[h2oface]

Nuances. How does a MLB outfielder not know the dead ball rule for a ball stuck in the wall, Wallner? After all, it helped the Dodgers win a game 7 because they had a SMART outfielder. I find it hard to believe that Wallner wasn’t watching that game, too. 

[JDubs]

Hey, lookit that: an honest-to-God winning streak!

[UK Twin]

Ober clearly isn't going to strike many people out these days but going 5+ with 2 runs allowed is good. A 4 game sweep of Detroit would be fantastic. Hopefully Abel can find his ST form. 

[Peter]

7th through 9th inning was nerve wracking but bullpen and abs got the job done!!! Let’s finish off tigers with a sweep today!!! Go Twins!!!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Really nicely written article with some funny lines. Thanks Sherry.

[CRF]

Never saw this coming. Could they possibly sweep the kittys today? 

[Doctor Gast]

8 hours ago, Dman said:

I have several thoughts.  First the pessimist in me had the Tigers likely sweeping the Twins.  When they won the first game I was relieved that we couldn't be swept.  When they won the second one I couldn't believe the teams good fortune to touch Skubal for 4 runs.  Getting past Framber seemed like asking for far too much and yet here in the upside down world the Twins live in it is the Tigers in danger of being swept and not the Twins.  Go figure.

The pen can be creaky, but so far they have gotten the job done for the most part.  If you would have told me they would be trusting Cody Lawyerson as the setup man I wouldn't have believed it.  He seems to have more trust from the manager than most of the other arms at least for the moment.  Turns out the arm they tried to pass through but got claimed should have likely been kept. Fortunately he found his way back.

After the way this team started, being at 6 and 6 seemed impossible three days ago.  If they can hang around .500 in May they might see fans showing up at the park yet.  This team seems like a house of cards, but winning these last three gives some measure of hope.  Especially if the Blue Jays and Red Sox continue to play poorly.

I've been much more optimistic with this team than most, but I didn't think we had a chance with Ober against Framber. I've been pleasantly surprised by Twins' success against DET. Twins have been in almost all their games but lacked clutch hits & Sheltie's misnavigation in uncharted BP seas, resulting in regrettable losses. Twins' bats are starting to heat up & fortunate in coming in to face slumping DET, TOR & BOS at the right time.  After these series; Twins could really turn around the season.

[GopherMike]

We quite posisbly have gone from 'vaguely bad' to 'distinctly mediocre'

Progress!

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Much better showing from Ober this time around. If he can do that every time hes on the mound, I think the team would be very pleased. 

1st Skubal now Valdez? Incredible. 

Last time out Abel got 2 strikes on a lot of hitters, but couldn't finish them off. Here's hoping he can start getting those Ks and we get after Flaherty today! 

Go Twins!

[JD-TWINS]

8 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

[insert ESPN Voice] "What if I told you that a Twins roster loaded with LH hitters and who suck at facing LHP took down two top LHP in 2 games?"

It's a good win, even if the bullpen wobbled with the big lead. Nice to see Ober have a good result. Definitely people around here who want to jettison him into the sun, so I'm hoping he makes them eat their words, possibly with a side of rosin.

Can't complain about the offense too much, with the exception of Brooks Lee, who continues to struggle. Good to see see Buxton and Lewis with multi-hit games; be great if they were both locking in and get on a run. Buck has looked close recently, and Royce has hit the ball hard as well, so good for them to get some good results.

3 straight against Detroit and a series win going into get-away day. Why not a sweep? Why the eff not?

Buxton - Martin - Keaschall - Bell - Lewis - Caratini - Lee - Jeffers……….. 8 of 9 from the right side. Don’t think an ESPN voice would call this a left handed heavy line-up.

They have 5 RH hitters - 5 LH hitters - 3 switch hitters…………seems pretty level. With 75% of pitchers being RH, they may be up for criticism on being light on LH hitters.

[Old Twins Hat]

With Ober, now he is throwing under 88 on his four-seam, and still occasionally getting a swing and miss.

If you watch closely, he's got great movement on the slider and change, but as he goes along, the movement in the 5th and 6th gets loopy and now he's vulnerable.  I understand the arm, the legs, a pitcher starts to labor, and that is something that can't be helped.

But, if he can hold up the other team's offense with that off-balancing act into the 5th or 6th, that's enough to be effective.

The bullpen will have off-nights and the Tigers were smelling blood in the water.  We still need one or two more guys who can get outs reliably, maybe even strike-outs.  Drew Smith and that Bash fella' are in line to get a shot at filling those spots.

[jorgenswest]

I said early on I don’t like this line up with one left handed hitter against lefties. After scoring 11 runs in the two games against Skubal and Valdez I could not have been more wrong.

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, Dman said:

I have several thoughts.  First the pessimist in me had the Tigers likely sweeping the Twins.  When they won the first game I was relieved that we couldn't be swept.  When they won the second one I couldn't believe the teams good fortune to touch Skubal for 4 runs.  Getting past Framber seemed like asking for far too much and yet here in the upside down world the Twins live in it is the Tigers in danger of being swept and not the Twins.  Go figure.

The pen can be creaky, but so far they have gotten the job done for the most part.  If you would have told me they would be trusting Cody Lawyerson as the setup man I wouldn't have believed it.  He seems to have more trust from the manager than most of the other arms at least for the moment.  Turns out the arm they tried to pass through but got claimed should have likely been kept. Fortunately he found his way back.

After the way this team started, being at 6 and 6 seemed impossible three days ago.  If they can hang around .500 in May they might see fans showing up at the park yet.  This team seems like a house of cards, but winning these last three gives some measure of hope.  Especially if the Blue Jays and Red Sox continue to play poorly.

Lawyerson being “set-up” guy was really just a case of attrition……..not a rise in trust, IMO. Can’t throw 4 PEN guys a night and hide a few from big spots - guys are going to get exposed & hopefully they’ll step-up in general.

Funderburk can be an adventure …….. ERA’s across the PEN are respectable to good. Banda had a really rough outing last night after 5 fairly good ones ………. Topa has been in a bunch of games and wasn’t clean in a couple, so his ERA is up a bit. Generally, can’t expect much more from this group.

[Patzky]

I'm so pleased with the timely hits, there are still plenty of misfires but things are coming around. 

So... I was watching a video montage of the RBI singles last night, a nice Instagram feature Twins social media puts together. If you watch, after smacking a hit, Royce spends a good fifty percent of the time looking into the home dugout on this way to first. Celebrate, sure! But missing a possible opening for extra bases because you aren't paying attention .. cmon. Josh Bell on the other hand keeps his eye on the field as he runs to first. I'm sure he was celebrating too.. but also aware of the surroundings.

Veteran presence. 

[JD-TWINS]

Read & re-read the post above regarding my boy, Matt Wallner “(paraphrasing)……..coming to plate v. Valdez an ice cold 0-20……”. Not sure what that referred to at all? Matt had 2 hits Monday and another Tuesday……..BA up over .220!! ………he managed to K two more times and maintain the League lead as well.

[stringer bell]

Splits against lefty pitching have improved dramatically, and they did it the hard way, by facing Framber and Skubal. I know Gleeman did a piece about how it should be expected that the team would struggle vs. lefties, but I don’t think that has to be. If the switch hitters can be average (.700-.720 OPS) and the the Twins regular RH hitters (Keaschall, Lewis, Buxton) do well when they have a platoon advantage, the Twins don’t need lefty killers to platoon.

All three switch hitters are a mixed bag against LH pitching. Bell has fairly neutral splits in his career, but was lousy against lefties last year. Caratini has not hit lefties as well in his career, but last year in a small sample was better against LH pitching. Lee has always been a better LH hitter, but last year was better from the right side. Keaschall, in a small sample, hasn’t hit lefties well, but there’s no reason why he should continue to struggle in that split.

Sorry if I went off on a tangent. 

[stringer bell]

51 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I said early on I don’t like this line up with one left handed hitter against lefties. After scoring 11 runs in the two games against Skubal and Valdez I could not have been more wrong.

In theory it makes sense to have more than one LH bat, but the Twins don’t have anyone that is good enough to play every day that hits lefty. That guy might be at St. Paul (Rodriguez or Walker), but right now Wallner seems to be the only LH hitter that can be even okay against southpaws. 

[Linus]

17 minutes ago, Patzky said:

I'm so pleased with the timely hits, there are still plenty of misfires but things are coming around. 

So... I was watching a video montage of the RBI singles last night, a nice Instagram feature Twins social media puts together. If you watch, after smacking a hit, Royce spends a good fifty percent of the time looking into the home dugout on this way to first. Celebrate, sure! But missing a possible opening for extra bases because you aren't paying attention .. cmon. Josh Bell on the other hand keeps his eye on the field as he runs to first. I'm sure he was celebrating too.. but also aware of the surroundings.

Veteran presence. 

I noticed this as well. Royce is pretty exuberant when he gets a hit which is fine I guess. Reminds me of Bud Grants rule against celebrating touchdowns “I want them to act like they’ve done it before”. 

[The Great Hambino]

8 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

In theory it makes sense to have more than one LH bat, but the Twins don’t have anyone that is good enough to play every day that hits lefty. That guy might be at St. Paul (Rodriguez or Walker), but right now Wallner seems to be the only LH hitter that can be even okay against southpaws. 

The lack of lefties in the lineup is also mitigated a bit when there are three switch-hitters in the lineup as well - well, two switch hitters and whatever you'd like to call this version of Lee

[Linus]

Ober did his job. I thought speed was a big factor early in the game with Buck and Keaschall setting the tone - they don’t win that game without it. The bullpen got the job done somehow - Bandas line isn’t great but he had several balls on the ground that found holes. Man Fundy has some games ( a lot of games) where he has no idea where his pitches are going. One thing that is a constant - sloppy baseball. A couple errors in the infield and brain farts from Martin and Wallner. They showed Shelton in the dugout explaining to Wallner about putting your hands up on the dead ball. Mind boggling to me that he he is in the big leagues and doesn’t know the rule. 

[stringer bell]

Twins are 8th in MLB in runs scored despite being 22nd in batting average and 17th in OPS. It seems other teams struggle with runners on base and have trouble advancing runners.

I’ll also predict that this might be a high-water mark for the season compared to the rest of MLB. 
 

[stringer bell]

12 minutes ago, Linus said:

Ober did his job. I thought speed was a big factor early in the game with Buck and Keaschall setting the tone - they don’t win that game without it. The bullpen got the job done somehow - Bandas line isn’t great but he had several balls on the ground that found holes. Man Fundy has some games ( a lot of games) where he has no idea where his pitches are going. One thing that is a constant - sloppy baseball. A couple errors in the infield and brain farts from Martin and Wallner. They showed Shelton in the dugout explaining to Wallner about putting your hands up on the dead ball. Mind boggling to me that he he is in the big leagues and doesn’t know the rule. 

Martin didn't play a full game and had a pedestrian line, but he was impactful. I thought a very key play in the first inning was Martin beating the throw on a force play, making it a bases loaded-no outs start to the inning. He foolishly challenged the first pitch of his at-bat in the first inning and he got picked off first, but he managed to stay in a rundown long enough for Buxton to score a run and he made one very nice catch in left field and made a couple of other catches look pretty easy that a slower OF might have struggled with. 

[jorgenswest]

5 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Twins are 8th in MLB in runs scored despite being 22nd in batting average and 17th in OPS. It seems other teams struggle with runners on base and have trouble advancing runners.

I’ll also predict that this might be a high-water mark for the season compared to the rest of MLB. 
 

I agree with the prediction.

It should be added that their walk rate (4th) is a big contributor to their just above league average wRC+ (101).

[Linus]

9 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Martin didn't play a full game and had a pedestrian line, but he was impactful. I thought a very key play in the first inning was Martin beating the throw on a force play, making it a bases loaded-no outs start to the inning. He foolishly challenged the first pitch of his at-bat in the first inning and he got picked off first, but he managed to stay in a rundown long enough for Buxton to score a run and he made one very nice catch in left field and made a couple of other catches look pretty easy that a slower OF might have struggled with. 

Martin beating that throw was huge. I couldn’t tell but he must have been running on that play?  On the pick off I assume he just made a mistake but teams do sometimes have that as a play so it might have been intentional seeing as Buck was at third. In any event much more fun to watch than three true outcomes baseball. 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

I know it didn't pay off in this game, but I really appreciate Shelton leaving the starters in for the 6th and 7th innings.

[Parfigliano]

7 hours ago, JDubs said:

Hey, lookit that: an honest-to-God winning streak!

Enjoy while it lasts.

[jkcarew]

I’m guessing NOT what Tigers players or fans thought the outcomes would be of back-to-back Skubal and Valdez starts against the Minnesota Twins. And definitely not what I thought the outcomes would be.

Baseball.