Fastball

Minnesota Twins Pitcher Accomplishes Rare Feat in Franchise History

The Minnesota Twins lost on Wednesday night, but it was still a banner night for right-hander Bailey Ober.

Brady Farkas

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) pitches in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Sept 7.
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) pitches in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Sept 7. / Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
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The Minnesota Twins suffered a tough 5-4 loss in extra innings on Wednesday night against the Cleveland Guardians, but you can't blame starting pitcher Bailey Ober for the loss.

The tall right-hander went 7.0 innings, giving up just two earned runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out 12 in a dominant performance. The Twins are now 80-72 on the season with 10 games to play.

They hold a 0.5 game lead on the surging Detroit Tigers for the third and final wild card spot in the American League.

For Ober, his start achieved a rare level of team history, according to @JayHayKid of the "Baseball is Dead" podcast:

Bailey Ober is the 11th pitcher in franchise history with a start of 12+ K and 0 BB and the 6th to do so in the Wild Card Era and the first to do so since Pablo López last season.

Ober has had an excellent year for Minnesota, especially in the wake of early-season struggles for Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray departing in free agency. He's gone 12-7 through 29 starts and owns a 3.84 ERA. He's struck out 180 batters in 168.2 innings.

The Twins and Guardians will finish out their series on Thursday afternoon with first pitch coming at 1:10 p.m. PT. Right-hander Simeon Woods-Richardson is pitching for Minnesota. He's 5-5 with a 4.08 ERA on the season. Joey Cantillo will pitch for Cleveland. He's gone 2-3 this year with a 4.99 ERA.

The Guardians currently lead the American League Central by 6.0 games.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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