Twins 3, Marlins 0: Bailey Ober Throws 1st Career Complete-Game Shutout, and Maddux

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Bailey Ober 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (89 pitches, 64 strikes (72%))
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (6
Top 3 WPA: Ober (0.45), Jeffers (0.10), Trevor Larnach (0.10)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Bailey Ober hasn't lost at Target Field yet in 2026, and he hoped to keep the surprising winning ways rolling on home from Cleveland. Standing in his way was 6-foot-6 righty fireballer Eury Pérez, who came into Tuesday night with an ERA over 7.00 on the road in 2026, but who dominated the Twins over six innings of one-hit ball in their July 2025 matchup. Would any of this history matter, or would a new trend emerge in this interleague bout between two teams fighting to stay relevant before summer even starts?

Starting Pitchers Dominate Early
The first three innings of the ballgame saw the Twins put a runner in scoring position at second base with only one out via a wild pitch on a strikeout and an errant throw to first, two walks and two stolen bases. Ober matched Pérez goose egg for goose egg through five innings, scattering two singles with no walks and five strikeouts. While the "Bark at the Park" crowd found reasons to cheer in Ober's performance, one couldn't help but wonder if those missed early opportunities would come back to bite the home team.

Third Time's the Charm for the Twins
Pérez looked to be heading toward a similarly masterful end to the bottom of the fifth, having surrendered no hits to that point and having retired Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis on only four pitches. As the lineup turned over for a third time, the mystery of Pérez's elevated ERA on the road was solved, as Byron Buxton worked a five-pitch walk, and Trevor Larnach went the other way for a single to put runners at the corners. The Twins stayed aggressive on the base paths against the lanky Pérez, this time with Larnach bolting toward second base on a 1-0 count to Ryan Jeffers. Rookie catcher Joe Mack threw down to second base, Larnach hit the brakes, and Buxton stole the first run of the game.

Pérez looked visibly frustrated. After the next pitch that he threw to Jeffers landed in the second deck in left, that frustration was validated, and the dogs at Target Field had more to howl about. 3-0 Twins!

Ober and Systemic Change
The date was September 7, 2024. The date was also April 10, 2025. On both instances, Ober was pulled early from a shutout with a low pitch count by his former skipper, Rocco Baldelli, due to drops in velocity and general mistrust that Ober was actually that good. The Twins eventually lost both games to the Royals in gut-wrenching fashion. Tonight, Ober entered the eighth inning having only thrown 70 pitches, and new skipper Derek Shelton let the Bearded Nightmare feast. Ober struck out two in slamming shut the eighth, and needed only eight pitches to finish off the Marlins for his first career nine-inning complete game shutout! 89 pitches at 89 mph or under. Maddux mode activated.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to win their fourth in a row on Wednesday evening in another matchup with the Marlins. This time, the home team will face a hometown foe in the Woodbury native Max Meyer (2-0, 2.79 ERA). The Twins counter with their young righty Simeon Woods Richardson (0-5, 6.92 ERA). While Meyer is ascending toward greatness, Woods Richardson is desperately trying to stay in the rotation. Luckily for the Twins, they don't play these games on stats alone. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Rojas	0	0	60	0	0	60
Adams	0	0	43	0	0	43
Banda	22	0	19	0	0	41
Garcia	0	13	20	0	0	33
Orze	16	15	0	0	0	31
Rogers	0	17	0	0	0	17
Morris	0	11	6	0	0	17
Gómez	2	5	10	0	0	17
Topa	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

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[Mike Sixel]

Happy to be wrong about Ober so far! 

[Parfigliano]

TC has a well rested bullpen for a change

[DataNerd]

I don't get why this works, but it has.  10 balls in play at >40 LA, 7Ks, 0BBs will work any day.

[jorgenswest]

That was fun to watch!

Bailey Ober’s last shut out was as a freshman for the College of Charleston against the Citadel in March of 2014.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Great game from Ober. I really enjoy good pitching performances. They're even more impressive when you dont have high 90s available. Crafty start had the hitters guessing wrong all night. Its a beautiful thing. 

Props to Shelton for actually letting him have a chance to finish it and not pulling him after the 2nd time through the order. 

Buck stealing home and then Jeffers putting one into the 2nd deck! 

[Vanimal46]

Honestly, it’s pretty fitting that Ober is the one to throw a Maddux. Congrats on a magical night Bailey! 

[Maybe Next Year]

Omg- what will we ever do about Ober. Velocity is way down. Get rid of him. He’s washed up. His OBP, WHIP, LGBTQ, XXMP, FRPG, BS, and numerous other stats are horrible! 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Probably the best start of Bailey Ober's career thus far. You have to give him props for pitching this well despite the velocity loss. I appreciate Shelton leaving him out there to complete the game. Offensively there wasn't a ton, but I loved the double steal. Credits to Larnach for drawing the throw and then getting into a pickle, and heading back to second afterwards. Good win all around. 

[Western SD Fan]

Ober has now thrown the last two complete games, both with 89 pitches in a game.  May have to think about calling him the RH version of Jamie Moyer.  Great to see another day with zeroes from the bullpen chart!

Fun fact not related to today's game:  Cal Raleigh finally breaks his 0-36 hitless streak tonight.  His last hit - a homerun off of Andrew Morris.

[stringer bell]

When Jeffers hit his homer, he looked like a jumbo Harmon. The same glance at the ball with a couple of walking steps towards first base.

[Blyleven2011]

Ober treated us to a nice pitching performance  , congratulations on the complete 9 inning 2 hit shutout  ...

It's a rarity in the game today for a pitcher to get a complete game  , he only needs 59 more shutouts to match Blyleven  ...

Hope we see more pitching gems like this ...

Shelton seems to have the right formula in using the right players lately  , we now have a 3 game winning streak ...

Bell and caratini started out good but are regressing,  they need to step it up a notch , we need consistency not streakyness ...

Lets make it 4 tomorrow  ...

[Twodogs]

37 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

Ober has now thrown the last two complete games, both with 89 pitches in a game.  May have to think about calling him the RH version of Jamie Moyer.  Great to see another day with zeroes from the bullpen chart!

Fun fact not related to today's game:  Cal Raleigh finally breaks his 0-36 hitless streak tonight.  His last hit - a homerun off of Andrew Morris.

Jamie Moyer would have killed to throw 92.  Ha ha

[Maybebaby]

These Twins might not win 80 games but I have to tip my hat to the manager (Old School)!

[Dave Borton]

89 pitches!

[stringer bell]

Twins are now tied for third place in the rough and tumble AL Central. By the way, the Central isn't the worst division in MLB, the AL West has a considerably lower winning percentage.