Twins Video
Box Score:
Starting pitcher: Bailey Ober: 7 IP 2 H 0 ER 0 BB 8 SO (85 pitches, 58 for strikes, 68.2%)
Home Runs: Joey Gallo (15)
Top 3 WPA: Ober (.371), Griffin Jax (.138) Gallo (.133)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):
Coming off of a game that could not have gone any better against a competitive Orioles team on the road, the Twins came out swinging against Orioles starter Kyle Bradish, who has been quite good lately, pitching to a 3.14 ERA since May began. He seemed to have some spotty command early, giving up two singles and a walk to Joey Gallo his first time through the lineup. The Twins put together some good at-bats and made Bradish work, but were held scoreless until Gallo’s home run in the fourth. He made good pitches in key spots, including a gorgeous full count curveball to freeze Max Kepler in the sixth with a man on second.
Although the runs did not come easy, the at-bats were competitive and the Twins put traffic on the bases, with only one 1-2-3 inning in the first seven. Unfortunately, they hit into a double-play, were caught stealing and had an unusual situation in the sixth when Kyle Farmer, trying to advance to third on a Christian Vázquez dribbler, interfered with the third baseman Jordan Westburg and was called out to end the inning, and Bradish’s outing.
Ober brings it
Bailey Ober has pitched well recently but has fallen into the Pablo López trap of having one off inning that inflates his ERA and puts the team behind the eight-ball offensively. Today the Orioles were aggressive early in counts but couldn’t get the barrel on the ball outside of Gunnar Henderson’s two-out single in the second. Ober entered the fourth inning having thrown only 28 pitches. He had command of all three pitches, even mixing in a couple curveballs, and took advantage of the swing-happy Orioles lineup.
He didn’t encounter a three ball count until going 3-1 to Cedric Mullins in the sixth. He ended up striking out Mullins looking on a changeup that started as a ball inside and faded to the inside edge of the strike zone. His performance brought to mind his gem against the White Sox last September in which he pitched into the eighth inning, striking out ten and allowing just two hits.
Royce Lewis exits with injury
Running out a ground ball in the 3rd inning, Lewis appeared to pull something in his oblique area and exited the game. Losing Lewis for any length of time will represent a call for rain on any contact-oriented parade the Twins’ lineup had planned to put on. However, it may allow for the return of Jose Miranda, who has hit better recently in the minors but looked increasingly blocked with his main positions manned by Lewis, Alex Kirilloff and Donovan Solano, arguably the Twins’ best hitters this year.
Max Kepler shows off his defensive chops
After a challenge overturned Jorge Mateo being thrown out at second with one out in the ninth, Anthony Santander roped a line drive to the right field corner that had game-tying hit written all over it. Max Kepler got to the ball quickly and made a sprawling catch to preserve the lead. No offense to Matt Wallner, but there is only one corner outfielder on the 40-man who can make that play.
Buxton makes hard contact, gets robbed
After lining a 103 MPH single in the first, Buxton crushed a line drive headed for the left field corner at 106 MPH (.770 expected batting-average) in the third. Orioles left-fielder Austin Hays came out of nowhere and made an incredible catch, saving what may have been the game’s first run. Not to be outdone, Buxton lined out sharply to shortstop Henderson in the fifth with an identical .770 xBA.
Joey Gallo lives
Perhaps annoyed with fans calling for his ouster with increasing vitriol lately, Gallo has now homered in four of his last seven games, crushing a breaking ball from Bradish 439 feet for the game’s first run in the fourth inning and making a diving catch on a blooper from Adley Rutschman in the first. All of a sudden, Gallo’s OPS is back above .800 and he looks positively playable.
What’s Next: Sonny Gray (4-2, 2.67) tries to build off his success against the Braves in Atlanta, facing the Orioles’ Cole Irvin (1-3, 7.18 ERA) who has been a disappointment after they acquired him thinking he could stabilize their young rotation.
Postgame Interviews:
Bullpen Usage Chart:
| TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | TOT | |
| Morán | 0 | 36 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 44 |
| Headrick | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 |
| Ortega | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Balazovic | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 27 |
| Pagán | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 27 |
| Jax | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| Durán | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Winder | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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