Most baseball fans, if asked about the No. 1 starter on the Twins baseball staff, would likely say Pablo Lopez, and there’s good reason to after he set career marks in innings pitched and strikeouts in 2023.
But Bailey Ober made a strong case for the role and designation on Sunday after he completely dazzled the Detroit Tigers, allowing just a hit over eight innings with 11 strikeouts on a very efficient 98 pitches in the 5-0 win.
“They get up there and he sits them down,” manager Rocco Baldelli told MLB.com. “He was in a very good place where he was repeating his delivery very well, and he was on fire.”
The 11 strikeouts was a career high for Ober.
The Twins scored their five runs on 12 hits, but it’s good thing Ober was in a groove because the team went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Still, they got three hits out of Willi Castro, three more out of Manny Margot and Matt Wallner chipped in with two hits as well, which is good to see because he’s now hitting better than .250.
Simeon Woods Richardson gets the ball Monday in New York versus the Mets.
Extra innings…
-The Twins earned the win and series win over the Tigers on Sunday. It’s the team’s second straight series win to start the second half of the season.
-Scary moment: Jose Miranda was drilled in the helmet by a pitch that sent him sprawling to the ground, although he did leave the field under his own power. MLB.com reports that he has passed the team’s preliminary concussion testing.
-How about that Royce Lewis? The word is out about the clutch-hitting infielder because he was intentionally walked by the Tigers for the third time in his young career.
-The Tigers had a bullpen day against the Twins and ex-Twin Kenta Maeda was handed the ball in the third inning. He did a nice job, allowing just a run on five hits across five innings with no walks and four strikeouts. Otsukaresama deshita, Maeda-toshu!