Make it Official: Twins 5, Tigers 0: Bailey Ober Dominates Yet Again

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Bailey Ober: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K (98 Pitches, 65 Strikes, 66.3%)
Home Runs: None
Top 3 WPA: Ober (.471), Matt Wallner (.101), Manuel Margot (.091)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):

Following a "scheduled" loss against the magnificent Tarik Skubal, the Twins embarked on a rubber game featuring the surging Bailey Ober, against the dregs of the Detroit Tigers bullpen. Of course, the Tigers are feisty, as indicated by them winning the season series in 2023, and by them splitting the series so far in 2024.

The afternoon started off with the first two Twins batters reaching. However, the second of those was José Miranda, fresh off the IL, and he took a 95-MPH shot to his head from Tigers opening pitcher Alex Faedo. It was gruesome in real time, but Miranda did walk off the field under his own power and passed initial concussion tests.

The Twins let Faedo off the hook by not scoring that inning, and the son of former Twins first-round pick Lenny Faedo likely was pleased with his outing. He was asked to pitch to Manuel Margot to start the second, and Margot greeted him with a sharp single. Faedo then gave way to lefty Easton Lucas, who wasn't able to retire Max Kepler. Brooks Lee nearly hit a three-run home run, but instead settled for a sacrifice fly to make the game 1-0.

Ober was cruising, even in the context of facing a mediocre lineup without its two best hitters in a cavernous ballpark. After a 12-pitch first inning, he needed only six pitches to complete the second, 11 for the third and 12 for the fourth. His changeup looked filthy, and played well off of his cutter. The fastball sat at 91-92 MPH, but with good location. At some points, it seemed like Ober could throw anywhere in the zone and Tigers hitters would not be able to square the ball up enough to do any damage in massive Comerica Park. There were quite a few 350 foot fly outs to center field.

The Twins added another run in the third, with Carlos Santana bringing in Willi Castro with another sacrifice fly against Kenta Maeda. It was sort of nice to see Maeda have some success, though. The sac fly by Santana was charged to Lucas, and Maeda ended up completing four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out three, with his fastball sitting 91-92 MPH.

The Tigers sent Maeda out for a fifth inning, and that's when he ran out of gas. Castro led off with a single, and Austin Martin, who replaced Miranda in the first, rocketed a ball to left field on which left fielder Ryan Vilade made a leaping catch. Wallner then tested Vilade again, but this time with a liner more toward the gap in left center. The ball hopped off the wall and easily scored Castro from first.

Ober had to work a little harder as the outing progressed, with Tigers hitters adjusting to try and work counts, but he still didn't allow a Detroit runner into scoring position. He struck out the side in the eighth inning, and ended upon getting 12 whiffs on his changeup while throwing it a total of 31 times.

The Tigers brought their closer, Jason Foley, into the game in the ninth behind 3-0. Christian Vazquez greeted him with a single up the middle, and Castro walked. Martin doubled into the gap to bring home Vazquez, and Foley's day was done. Royce Lewis pinch hit for Wallner with lefty Andrew Chafin coming in, and was intentionally walked. The struggling Ryan Jeffers then blooped a single to left to score Castro on a first pitch slider to make the score 5-0, surely making Baldelli ponder the idea of letting Ober finish the game.

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With Ober's pitch count at 98, Baldelli made the rational decision to pull his starter and let Caleb Thielbar finish the win.

The Good:
-Ober was amazing. His changeup has looked like an elite pitch for a while now and his command was exceptional.
-Castro had three hits plus a walk and survived getting decked by Wallner as they grappled for a foul flyout to end the sixth.
-Margot had three hits, all off righties.

The Bad:
-Ryan Jeffers looks completely out of whack, striking out on three pitches multiple times. He does have a foot injury but its not listed on any injury report. This looks like to me like one of those classic instances of a player saying he's fine until the season ends and then he explains his poor stats by saying he was hurt the whole year.
-You have to feel bad for Miranda. After going through his shoulder injury last year and falling out of the Twins' plans, he resurfaces and becomes arguably the teams best hitter only to have his back injury stall his momentum. And now we wait to see how his brain recovers from today's hit by pitch.

What’s Next: Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.27 ERA) goes against the team that drafted him, the New York Mets, as they counter with lefty José Quintana (5-6, 4.02 ERA) to start the series in Queens on Monday. The Mets have been on a fast-food mascot inspired tear lately, and are in playoff position, so they will not be rolling over for anyone.

Postgame Interviews:

Bullpen Usage Chart: