After six more runs, why can't Ober solve Kansas City?

MINNEAPOLIS -- What is it about the Kansas City Royals that seemingly makes them Bailey Ober’s kryptonite?

Typically the Twins’ most consistent starting pitcher throughout his four-year career, Ober has now had two blow-up outings against the Royals, this time allowing six runs in five innings as part of the Twins’ 6-1 loss at Target Field on Wednesday.

After a disastrous season debut in which Ober allowed eight runs to the Royals on nine hits in a career-low 1 1/3 innings, he didn’t have many answers -- and two months later, it appeared that he still was puzzled for the solution to whatever it is about Kansas City that gives him fits.

“Whenever I throw against them, it seems to go that way right now,” Ober said. “But yeah, it’s frustrating. It sucks when you go out there -- I mean, every time I go out there, I’m expecting to be able to turn in a good outing. And lately, that hasn’t turned out that way against those guys over there.”

The long ball sunk Ober on Wednesday, as it did in his season opener, with Nelson Velázquez going deep twice and Salvador Perez hitting a homer and double as part of the Royals’ six-run outburst, a rarity when the big right-hander is on the mound -- except, it seems, when he’s facing Kansas City.

Here’s a sample of what that has looked like:

• Ober has allowed six homers in two starts against the Royals this season, and four homers in nine starts against everyone else.

• Ober has allowed 14 runs in 6 1/3 innings in those two starts against the Royals this season, and 17 runs in 50 2/3 innings against everyone else.

• Among Ober’s 68 career starts, he has allowed six or more runs only three times. All three of those starts have come against Kansas City.

• Ober has a 7.71 ERA in nine career starts against the Royals, and a 3.36 ERA against everyone else. He has been highly effective against the rest of the division, with a 3.63 ERA in 11 starts against Chicago, a 2.53 ERA in six starts against Cleveland, and a 4.21 ERA in nine starts against Detroit.

Ober and manager Rocco Baldelli insisted that there doesn’t seem to be much of an explanation for why Kansas City continues to give him fits, and these are hardly the biggest of sample sizes. But if there’s any semblance of an explanation for it, it’s perhaps that the Royals have been better at eliminating Ober’s offspeed pitches than other teams.

He drastically cut down on his fastball usage in this outing, throwing it with only 38% of his pitches, as compared to 49% of his offerings in his season opener. But the Royals were still on it, with both Velázquez and Perez waiting out Ober’s fastball to drive it in the two-run fifth inning.

“They’re just on my fastball,” Ober said. “Both outings, really. Tried to throw it a little bit less this outing. And then when I did throw it, they were still on it. Maybe there’s something there, but they’re just ready for that pitch right now.”

Ober ramped up the usage of the cutter and slider as compared to that first outing, too -- and the Royals were ready for that as well, with the fastball, slider and cutter all getting hit in the four-run third inning in which the Royals found some early separation.

The right-hander hadn’t exactly been executing at his best across his last two starts, during which he labored through extended first innings, and he’d been struggling with some mechanical inconsistency throughout a bulk of late April. But Ober had still found ways to pitch like the steady version who had allowed three or fewer runs in 49 of his 67 career outings, including an effective start against the Dodgers and a 10-strikeout, one-hit gem against the Blue Jays.

If there’s any consolation, it’s that the Twins won’t see the Royals again until August after Thursday -- and perhaps that will give Ober more time to digest, troubleshoot and find his best fastball execution.

“It's the same thing for hitters,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “Hitters have teams that they struggle with more. Some pitching staffs just pitch you well. You can't find a rhythm. You can't track on to what, to how they're calling the game to you. Maybe that's the same way with pitchers.”