DETROIT (AP) — Bailey Ober allowed one hit in eight scoreless innings, and the Minnesota Twins beat Detroit 5-0 on Sunday to win the weekend and season series against the Tigers.
Ober (10-5) finished with a career-best 11 strikeouts, his third time this season reaching double digits. Not bad for a pitcher who wasn’t feeling well Sunday morning and wasn’t certain he could pitch.
“I didn’t feel great physically, but I kept getting good results, so we kept doing what we were doing,” Ober said.
Willi Castro and Manuel Margot each had three hits for the Twins, who went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position. Minnesota won two of three to finish 7-6 against Detroit.
Ober (10-5) allowed a clean single to Matt Vierling to lead off the fourth and walked two batters.
“We were talking before the game about what he was going to be capable of doing today, but we got the green light he could start,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Then he throws eight scoreless innings with one hit. He was awesome.”
Ober struck out the side in the eighth.
“I knew going out there I had eight (Ks) and it was getting pretty late in the game,” he said. “I tried to reach back for something extra, and after I got the first two, I knew I had to put (Javier Báez) away.”
He is 3-0 with a 0.69 ERA in four starts against the Tigers this season.
“His arsenal has gotten better and better every time we’ve seen him,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I don’t know how tall he is — he looks seven feet tall — and it all starts with that elevated fastball, but he’s got four separate pitches he can use.”
Detroit, down to three healthy starting pitchers, got nine innings from its bullpen for the third time in six games. Opener Alex Faedo (5-2) allowed one run in one-plus innings.
The Twins took the lead on Brook Lee’s sacrifice fly in the second, and Carlos Santana made it 2-0 with another sac fly in the third.
Matt Wallner added an RBI double off Kenta Maeda in the seventh, giving the Twins a three-run lead, and they scored two more in the ninth.
Maeda, who was pulled from the rotation before the All-Star break, allowed one run on five hits in five innings.
“It was a good outing for him, and we’re going to continue to build off these outcomes,” Hinch said. “It is encouraging to watch his stuff get a little better.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins 3B Jose Miranda left the game in the first inning after Faedo hit him in the cheek with a 95-mph fastball. It appeared Miranda’s ear flap took most of the impact, and he walked off the field unaided after a check from the Minnesota training staff. Baldelli said after the game that Miranda passed preliminary concussion tests.
UP NEXT
Twins: Fly to New York to start a three-game series with the Mets on Monday. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.27) is scheduled to start the opener against LHP Jose Quintana (5-6, 4.02).
Tigers: Remain home for two games against AL-best Cleveland. RHP Jack Flaherty (7-5, 2.95), the subject of trade rumors, is scheduled to start Monday against RHP Tanner Bibee (8-4, 3.50).
