Bailey Ober pitched six strong innings, helping the Minnesota Twins end their five-game losing streak with a narrow 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
Byron Buxton and Austin Martin both got two hits for Minnesota, and the team scored three runs with sacrifice flies.
Wenceel Pérez, Javier Báez, and Kerry Carpenter each brought in a run for Detroit. Matt Vierling had two of the Tigers’ five hits.
Ober (1-1) struck out six batters and only walked one. He didn’t allow any runs in his first 13 innings, and his streak of not allowing runs reached 15 before Pérez hit an RBI triple in the sixth inning.
“We had to work hard for the win, and that feels good. We did some positive things, and it all started with Bailey on the mound,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
The 6-foot-9 right-hander has given up eight hits and two earned runs in 16 innings over three starts since his rough outing where he allowed eight runs in just 1 1/3 innings on March 31.
“I had a coach in college who used to say you’re only as good as your last outing,” Ober said. “I’ve been following that a lot recently. After that first outing, you kind of think about it, like, ‘Oh, you don’t want to be known as that.’ I kind of looked at it a little bit. And in my head, I’ve been thinking you’re only as good as your next outing.”
The Twins’ bullpen almost let Ober’s good start slip away. Báez doubled home Vierling in the seventh inning to make it 4-2. However, Cole Sands limited the damage by getting Parker Meadows out on a popup and striking out pinch-hitter Mark Canha.
Carpenter’s single in the eighth inning off Kody Funderburk brought the Tigers within one, but Matt Bowman retired Vierling to end the inning.
Griffin Jax pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. Meadows flew out to the warning track for the final out. “If he hits that in the summer, it’s probably gone,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said.
Reese Olson (0-3) gave up five hits in five innings for the Tigers, striking out four. Only two of the four runs he allowed were earned. Detroit has allowed at least two unearned runs in four straight games. A couple of infield errors in the fifth inning helped the Twins take a 4-0 lead.
