Twins starter Bailey Ober doesn’t get knocked around too often, but when he does it’s pretty spectacular.
Ober was rocked by the Royals to start the season, and he was taken to the woodshed again Monday by the Atlanta Braves, who scored nine runs in the first two innings before a 90-minute rain delay provided an early exit. The Twins chipped away at the lead, but finally fell to the Braves, 10-6.
The bigger picture looks like this: The Royals swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Guardians, so K.C. has moved within a game of the top spot, with the Twins 1.5 games back of the Royals and 2.5 games behind the Guards.
Simeon Woods Richardson gets the ball Tuesday. They need a huge effort from him.
Extra innings…
-Ober’s line: Nine runs allowed on seven hits, including two home runs, with two walks and two strikeouts.
-It’s fine with me if the Twins want to move on from reliever Trevor Richards. He uncorked his seventh wild pitch of the season, which allowed the 10th run to score.
-Twins radio voices Kris Atteberry and Dan Gladden invoked the Matt Wallner nickname “cement bones” after he was hit in the knee by a pitch. Most players would have crumpled to the ground, but Wallner’s knee sent the ball flying into a not-so-nearby camera well, according to Atteberry. Cement bones then trotted down to first base. Wallner also hit his 10th home run of the season.
-I was happy to hear Gladden mention playing in Portland, Oregon, during the game. That’s my hometown and it was home to the Beavers, a Twins’ Triple-A affiliate from the late 1980s through the early 1990s. Gladden didn’t play in the minors there, but the Twins did play exhibition games against the Beavers. Gladden said he had to wear a soccer-style shoe because of the fake turf. The North American Soccer League had folded by then, but Civic Stadium was home to the Portland Breakers, a USFL team that had relocated from New Orleans. Former Oklahoma running back Marcus Dupree played for that team.
As a kid, I saw one of those Twins/Beavers exhibition games, and it appears there was more than one, according to The Oregonian, which is finally available via Newspapers.com.
The Oregonian for April 16, 1987:
“The Minnesota Twins, the hottest team this side of Milwaukee, came into Portland the way division leaders are supposed to — in style.
“The Twins flew up from Oakland, Calif., Wednesday in a chartered jet, right after they beat the Athletics 5-2 and increased their lead in the American League West.
“The team will remain in town just long enough to play an exhibition game Thursday night against the Portland Beavers, then take the charter down to Anaheim, Calif., for a series against the second-place California Angels.
“A home-run hitting contest with Minnesota’s Kirby Puckett and Gary Gaetti, batting coach Tony Oliva and Portland Manager Charlie Manuel will begin at 7 p.m. in Civic Stadium, followed by the game at 7:30 p.m.”
There was a home-run hitting contest between Puckett, Gaetti, Oliva and Manuel? Sure wish I had seen that.
Sources: MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com