Twins Video
Box Score
SP: Bailey Ober - 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K (103 pitches, 77 strikes (75% Strikes)
Home Runs: Ryan Jeffers (14)
Top 3 WPA: Max Kepler .281, José Miranda .264, Ryan Jeffers .064
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
Tigers Roar Early Against Ober
After finding their groove against David Festa last evening, Detroit wasted little time capitalizing on Ober's off-speed pitches and sloppy Twins defense. Colt Keith pulled an 0-2 slider into the right-center upper deck to stake the Tigers to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. After Maeda mowed down the Twins in order in the bottom half of the first, Ober thought he had turned a 1-2-3 second inning of his own, but Ryan Jeffers allowed strike three to Zach McKinstry to reach the backstop. Former Twin Gio Urshela dumped a single to right to put runners on the corners with two down. Jake Rogers and his .613 OPS then took a 2-2 changeup down the left field line to clear the bases, and put the Twins and Ober down 3-0. Drizzle or no drizzle, the Twins needed to get the bats going, or else this series was going to get washed down the drain.
Twins Can Hit in the Rain Too!
Back in April, King Kenta reigned against his former club by going six innings and only allowing one earned run. By the end of the second inning today, Maeda ran into double trouble. Jose Miranda laced a leadoff double to the wall in left-center, and had no problem scoring on Jeffers' rope double down the left field line. Max Kepler kept the the line moving with a single, and Brooks Lee's second career RBI came via a fly-out to deep right field. The Twins were suddenly back in the contest, important on a day where a rain-shortened game was definitely in the forecast.
Which Starter Will Make the Adjustments?
Ober cruised through the top of the third, while Maeda stalled out in the bottom. The inning started innocently enough, with a Willi Castro ground out. After a Carlos Correa single up the middle, a Trevor Larnach walk, and a Miranda "excuse me” single to third, the Twins had the bases loaded and a chance to take the lead with the wind picking up and the clouds rolling in. Jeffers struck out without ever seeing an actual strike, however, and the pressure system all fell upon Max Kepler to deliver. Deliver he did, guiding a 82 mph sweeper through the hole on the left side of the diamond to put the Twins up 4-3. Manuel Margot continued the contact-making theme of the inning, rolling a 74.6 mph bouncer off of Maeda's lunging glove to plate Miranda and make it 5-3 Twins.
That stall out became complete engine failure for Maeda, as the hard-hit rate increased in the bottom of the fourth. After getting Austin Martin and Castro easily, Maeda lost Correa to a walk on a full count, and Larnach took a four pitch walk. A.J. Hinch stuck with his starter, and Miranda stuck with crushing the ball.
The hits kept on coming for the home team, as Jeffers took an 0-2 splitter even further down the left field line this time to extend the Twins home run streak to 22 games, and pushing the lead to 9-3.
The Race is On
The only question that remained was whether or not Ober could make quick enough work of the top of the Tiger's lineup in the top of the fifth inning in order to make this game officially count as the lightning moved camera operators to safety and fans started opening their favorite weather apps. Two strike outs helped, two bleeding singles didn’t, and there were two on and two out for Wenceel Perez as fans began to head for shelter. Perez also headed for shelter, after weakly grounding out to Miranda at first base to end the threat and to set up a potential victory.
Rumors of getting rained out after five innings were greatly exagerrated...and the game slid on into the sixth, with Ober taming the Tigers in order. Lefty Joey Wentz stayed in the game, which brought Carlos Santana in to replace Larnach from the right side of the plate. Santana walked, Miranda singled to make it a 4-for-4 day, and Jeffers found success again with a slightly shorter blast. The grounder tipped off of Wentz's glove and died in the grass while Santana scampered home. A wild throw to first plated Miranda, and the Twins now found themselves coasting to a 11-3 advantage. In the bottom of the seventh, Miranda found himself up again, and he crushed again, scoring Kyle Farmer with another ringing double.
Tarpaulin on terra firma finally look place a few batters later, and the game's conclusion came early with a 12-3 Twins win in seven innings.
What’s Next?
The Twins host the Astros Friday night to kick off what should be a great summer series at Target Field. Pablo Lopez (8-6, 4.88 ERA) looks to get the weekend started off right, while the streaking Houston squad will put forward righty Shawn Dubin (1-1, 4.91 ERA) in an opener role. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm CT.
Postgame Interview
Bullpen Usage Sheet
| SUN | MON | TUE | WED | THU | TOT | |
| Funderburk | 10 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 47 |
| Durán | 19 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Sands | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 29 |
| Thielbar | 16 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 25 |
| Okert | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Alcalá | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Jax | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Staumont | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
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