It could have been worse.
The Twins and Bailey Ober were bounced by Atlanta on a rainy Monday night 10-6, Minnesota's third loss in four games, and sixth in eight games.
But they moved up in the standings.
That's because Kansas City swept first-place Cleveland 4-3 and 9-4.
So here's what we got: The Guardians in first place, the Royals a game out, and the Twins two-and-half back.
A glance at the standings masks the face that the Twins have been sagging of late, blowing late leads in three games and their top pitcher getting smoked at home.
Travis d’Arnaud hit a two-run homer and Marcell Ozuna had two runs and two RBIs for the Braves, who emphatically ended Ober’s streak of 11 straight quality starts with four runs before he recorded an out.
Whit Merrifield, who went 5 for 5, began the game with a single. Three batters later, Ober (12-6) threw an 0-2 cutter that Olson drove 423 feet into the second deck above right-center field for his 23rd homer.
Olson is well off the 54-home run pace he led baseball with last season, but in his last 16 games he has 17 RBIs, 12 runs, five homers and five doubles.
After severe weather warning sirens started wailing in the middle of the first inning, the Braves managed to squeeze in five more runs before the downpour began, the napkins and wrappers swirled down from the upper deck, and the grounds crew hustled the tarp onto the infield in the middle of the second.
“I didn’t know the rain was coming that early. I don’t think anyone did. It was hot, and I was sweating a lot, but I’ve had games like that before and I was able to pitch through it,” Ober said. “No excuses.”
Ober, who had logged at least six innings and allowed three runs or fewer over his last 11 turns for a 2.09 ERA and eight wins by the Twins, threw 55 pitches and made manager Rocco Baldelli’s decision easy to go to the bullpen after the game resumed.
The 6-foot-9 right-hander, who has blossomed into an ace for a rotation thinned by injuries and now rounded out with three rookies, got two outs in the second inning before the Braves got in some more batting practice with five straight men on base.Matt Wallner homered late for the Twins, who started their third straight interleague series and dropped to 16-22 against NL opponents.
UP NEXT
The Braves will send righthander Spencer Schwellenbach (5-6, 3.94 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday night opposite Twins righty Simeon Woods Richardson (5-3, 3.69).