Ober's 9th straight quality start gives Twins a lift in Game 1

MINNEAPOLIS -- There’s no sugarcoating the brutality of the injury news the Twins got ahead of Friday’s doubleheader involving Joe Ryan, who has the potential to be out for the season, and Brock Stewart, who will certainly be out for the season due to imminent shoulder surgery.

But the impact can at least be blunted by a big win.

Bailey Ober has been the rock of the Minnesota rotation for nearly two months now, and if the Twins are to navigate life without Ryan for the foreseeable future, it sure helps that Ober is pitching like a true ace -- one who threw a ninth consecutive quality start as he led the Twins to a 4-2 victory over the division-leading Guardians in the first game of Friday’s critical twin bill at Target Field.

“It’s pretty cool. Every time I step out on the field, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Ober said. “I’m trying to give our team a good chance to win, and part of that is getting quality starts. So I’m blessed and lucky enough to have that streak going, but it’s not too much on my mind right now. I’m just trying to pitch as best as I can every single day.”

Ober became the first Twins pitcher to throw nine quality starts in a row in 15 years, as Nick Blackburn had been the last to accomplish the feat from May 21-July 5, 2009. The last Twins pitcher to throw 10 or more consecutive quality starts was Johan Santana, who had 21 in a row during his 2004 Cy Young season.

The win, spurred by early homers from Carlos Santana and Ryan Jeffers, pulled the Twins to within 2 1/2 games of the American League Central lead, their smallest deficit in the division since May 16.

But once again, the victory was all about Ober, who dominated over six scoreless frames, as he allowed one runner to reach second base and threw a career-high 106 pitches to ease the load on the bullpen with another hugely important game to come in the nightcap.

“We’re ready for this series and are just going to go out there and play our baseball,” Ober said. “It’s tough when guys go down, especially with how they’ve been doing. We’re hurting for them. We’re hoping they can get as healthy as they can. We’re just going to try to go out there and play our baseball.”

Ober worked around two runners with no outs in the fifth, and overcame his own error with two outs in the sixth -- one that led to his hurling the ball at the ground in frustration -- by inducing a flyout from Lane Thomas to cap the outing in which he allowed two hits, walked two and struck out nine.

As has been the case often amid this stretch of dominance -- which has also featured the 89-pitch complete game against the A’s and a career-best 11 strikeouts against the Tigers -- Ober leaned heavily on his changeup, throwing it a career-high 42 times against a Cleveland lineup loaded with left-handed bats.

Six of his strikeouts came on the changeup, which Ober has consistently been able to spot underneath the strike zone -- particularly with two strikes -- in a way that has elevated his already consistent game to new heights.

“I was able to locate it down underneath the zone,” Ober said. “Early on in the game, I was leaning on that whenever I had some location issues with the fastball. So I was able to get back on track, especially with the changeup. And throughout the game, it just kind of stuck.”

That changeup generated a 39% whiff rate this season entering Friday, third-highest among all MLB pitchers with at least 200 swings against changeups, behind only the Royals’ Cole Ragans (48.5%) and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal (47.7%).

And if the injury-ridden Twins are to play meaningful games into September and October, Ober’s changeup could very well carry them on that journey.