Make It Official! Twins 5, Angels 3: Bailey Ober Spearheads a 5th Straight Win

Box Score
SP: Bailey Ober: 7 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K (96 pitches, 63 strikes, 12 whiffs)
Home Runs: Carlos Santana (2) 
Top 3 WPA: Bailey Ober (.317), Willi Castro (.086), Carlos Santana (.057)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

The Twins trekked West for their first seasonal foray into real late-night baseball. None of this evening crap; the final pitch is now guaranteed to come sometime after the bedtimes of all those under 40. Buckle up—and ingest your booze wisely.

The game jump-started to life thanks to an unexpected source: Carlos Santana. The man once dragged through the mud and slandered as a geezer lacking in the skills to succeed in a young man’s game deposited a changeup 425 feet out to centerfield, scoring the 1,000th run of his career. Something like 300 of those runs came against the Twins (the real total is 106).

Minnesota scored once more the following inning when Willi Castro and Byron Buxton teamed up to turn a pair of 0-2 singles into a run, thanks in part to Taylor Ward’s Ben Revere-esque arm strength in left field.

So summed up the curse of Angels’ starter Patrick Sandoval on Friday: he wasn’t bad—far from the standard badness that populates our mind and poisons our discourse—but his few mistakes compounded, turning what could have been a normal, solid start into the nondescript muck he walked away from. It wasn’t his fault Castro’s weird chopper turned into a rare double to left or that Santana poked a single beyond the drawn-in infield—only scoring a runner that existed because Jo Adell and Mike Trout couldn’t agree on who got to catch the ball, finally settling on neither man. Oh, and then Logan O’Hoppe whiffed on a passed ball. So it goes. 

All of this detailed and accentuated a brilliant start from Bailey Ober. He didn't do anything special. Ober has already proven himself a man of shocking understatement for such a figure. Rather, he democratically mixed up his pitches, attacked all parts of the zone, and coaxed weak contact and whiffs alike. The Angels had no answer. When the dust settled, Bailey casually walked away with a tie in his career-high for innings pitched, eight strikeouts, and two earned runs. He did walk three guys. Perhaps he felt bored and wanted to add some drama. 

Intrigue arrived for a time when Nolan Schanuel singled in a run off Matt Bowman; it soon died when the next two batters struck out looking.

Some drama ensued. Minnesota scored a fifth and final run. Rocco Baldelli sent Bowman out again as a sacrifice to save the bullpen. It almost worked. 35 pitches couldn't do it, so Caleb Thielbar entered to earn one measly out before the game could be properly stuffed away and counted as a win. He got it... eventually, earning his second career save in the process. 

Notes:

Bailey Ober pitched into the 8th inning for the first time since September 27th, 2022.

Willi Castro earned his first three-hit game since September 9th, 2023.

Austin Martin stole the first base of his major league career; he is 275 steals away from tying Chuck Knoblauch for the Twins' all-time record.

Byron Buxton is seven RBIs away from tying Shane Mack for 36th on Minnesota's RBI leaderboard. 

Post-Game Interviews

What’s Next?
The Twins and Angels play the second game of their series on Saturday, with a start time no less forgiving than Friday; first pitch is at 7:38 PM (8:38 pm central time!). Chris Paddack faces off against José Soriano. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet