The night started out bad for Bailey Ober, but things turned around pretty quick.
And stayed there.
Ober rebounded from Bryce Harper’s two-run homer in the first to settle in for seven innings, and the Twins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Monday night.
Ober (9-5) threw only 83 pitches and retired 17 of his last 18 batters, getting a double-play grounder to erase the lone baserunner in that stretch.
The 6-foot-9 right-hander gave up four hits and one walk and improved to 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA in his last six starts.
After Harper's home run, which came in his first-ever at-bat at Target Field, the Phillies did not advance a runner past first base.
“He looked great,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You could almost make an argument to just leave him in the game and let him keep throwing.”
Cole Sands finished with two scoreless innings for the Twins, who held the Phillies to one hit in their last 27 at-bats.
With the win, the Twins moved to within four games of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.
The Guardians lost at home to Detroit 8-2, stretching their losing streak to three.
Kansas City drilled Arizona 10-4 and remain in a virtual tie for second place with the Twins.
Willi Castro had an RBI single in the third and Manny Margot hit the go-ahead two-run single in the fifth against Phillies starter Ranger Suárez (10-5), who lost his fourth straight decision and failed to finish the sixth inning for the third time in his last four starts.
Despite Suárez’s recent slide, the Twins were particularly proud of their production against the seventh-year left-hander.
“He’s a phenomenal pitcher,” Margot said through an interpreter. “The way he mixes his pitches is great.”
Carlos Santana added an RBI double in the seventh and Max Kepler hit an RBI single to spark a three-run eighth for the Twins (55-44), who stopped a three-game losing streak and moved within four games of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central. That’s the closest they’ve been to the lead since May 17.
The Twins lugged into the game an ominous 2-19 record against opponents with currently superior records: the Orioles, Guardians, Dodgers, Yankees and Brewers.
The only other club in that category is of course the baseball-best Phillies (63-37), who strutted into their first visit to Target Field in eight years with the best team ERA in the major leagues and a top-five placing in most hitting measures.
ALMOST THERE
Twins third baseman Royce Lewis (strained groin) starts a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday. Lewis has missed the last 14 games, but he’s avoided another long-term absence — he missed 58 games earlier this season to a strained quadriceps — by immediately identifying and reporting the problem.
“Normally, that’s something where I feel that tightness and I don’t say anything,” Lewis said before the game. “I think the goal, ultimately, is learning I don’t have to be Superman.”
UP NEXT
Phillies righty Zack Wheeler (10-4, 2.70 ERA) pitches on Tuesday night, and fellow right hander Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.51) takes the mound for the Twins in the middle game of the series.