Finding his groove, Ober tames Tigers as Twins even series

MINNEAPOLIS -- Bailey Ober's first start of the season might have felt like a bad dream. But in his last three starts, Ober has been a nightmare for opposing hitters.

Ober pitched six dazzling innings on Saturday and the Twins did just enough at the plate to beat the Tigers, 4-3, at Target Field, snapping a season-long five-game losing streak.

The Twins' right-hander allowed one run on two hits, walked two and struck out six to earn his first win of the season. It was his third consecutive start of allowing no more than one run -- in that stretch, he’s worked 17 innings, given up two earned runs, walked three and struck out 16 while holding opposing hitters to a .140 (8-for-57) batting average.

“Every win is huge, and right now, we’re just trying to build some momentum,” Ober said. “We’ve been looking for that this year. Hopefully, we can continue off today.”

In his first start of the season, Ober allowed eight earned runs in 1 1/3 innings during Minnesota's loss to Kansas City. Since then, he’s been the guy the Twins have gotten used to seeing since 2021.

“This is what he’s been for almost every start of his entire career, except for a small handful of starts,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He gives you a very competitive outing every single time. Whether it starts really good or it ends really good, normally he’s got a long stretch in every outing where he’s sharp and he’s working the way he wants to.”

On Saturday, that stretch came early in the game. Ober retired the first 13 batters he faced, a streak snapped by Matt Vierling’s one-out single in the fifth. True to form, Ober didn’t panic -- he struck out the next two hitters and got the Twins back up to bat, where they immediately scored two more runs to double their lead.

Ober was efficient, especially during his first trip through the Tigers' order. He needed just 26 pitches to get through the first three frames, including a four-pitch third inning, and recorded eight flyouts. Over the next three innings, Ober posted all six of his strikeouts, a product of his ability to get ahead and stay ahead in the count.

“I felt like because my pitch count was so low and they were swinging early, they might be more passive to try to make me throw a few more pitches here and there,” he said of his approach the second time through the order. “But the biggest thing, since we had the lead, was just getting strike one. Get in the zone early, and then we could expand later throughout the at-bats. And that’s what happened.”

Ober relied heavily on his four-seam fastball (33 percent of his pitches) and cutter (29 percent) to carry the load, though he also got at least one whiff on all five of his pitches, including his changeup, slider and curveball.

That success came in part from a recent change in philosophy adopted by Ober.

“​​I had a coach in college that used to say you’re only as good as your last outing. I have been following that a lot recently, but after you have that first outing, you kind of think about it, like, oh, you don’t want to be known as that,” Ober said.

“[Now] in my head, I’ve been thinking you’re only as good as your next outing. So I’ve been kind of just putting everything as a process -- as soon as today is over, tomorrow I’m going to get ready for my next one.”

Thanks to that new approach, the ghosts of Kansas City are quickly fading into the distance.