Three starts in, Ober only getting better

CLEVELAND -- Bailey Ober wasn’t even the starting pitcher who got more than halfway to a perfect game at Progressive Field on Friday night -- but more significantly, the Twins’ ever-steady right-hander still emerged triumphant.

Yes, the Minnesota offense had to sort through its inconsistency, which flared up again when Guardians rookie right-hander Peyton Battenfield retired the first 17 Twins to come to the plate. But Ober still led the Twins to a 2-0 victory, holding Cleveland to three hits in seven shutout frames in another dominant outing from a Twins starting pitcher -- a common thread throughout the first month-plus of 2023.

“When you’re on top of your game and you’re throwing the ball like that, you’re going to keep pitching,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I think everyone watching the game from our dugout, we didn't want to take our eyes off of him. He was really something today.”

It’s tough to believe that the Twins had this version of Ober stashed in Triple-A to begin the season. Ever since his return, he has pitched like a man who has no intention whatsoever of going back.

Ober’s 91-pitch gem included six strikeouts and a walk, and it lowered his season ERA to 0.98 (two earned runs in 18 1/3 innings), continuing an impressive three-start run against the Nationals, Royals and Guardians that should start a lengthy tenure in the Twins’ rotation after injuries to Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle, the latter of whom was moved to the 60-day IL on Friday.

“Coming off a strong camp, I felt good in Spring Training, I felt good down in Triple-A, and the last couple of outings, I've been feeling really good, too,” Ober said. “Just try to build off each outing.”

• 'Always ready' Ober earns spot in Twins' rotation

As Battenfield took a perfect-game bid into the sixth, Ober just about matched him batter for batter, allowing only a two-out walk to Myles Straw in the third inning and a two-out double to Josh Naylor in the fourth. The Twins ultimately got to Battenfield with a Christian Vázquez single and a Max Kepler two-run homer in the sixth, which marked the 17th straight game with a homer for the Twins, setting a new franchise record.

But Ober never faltered.

A leadoff single by José Ramírez in the seventh led to no harm when the Guardians superstar got overly aggressive on a two-out infield single and tried to score from second base. A strong throw home by Donovan Solano was in plenty of time to cut down Ramírez, and Ober finished the night one out shy of matching his career high of 7 1/3 innings, set in a scoreless, 10-strikeout start last Sept. 27 against the White Sox.

“If a pitcher has the ability to spin it or change speeds in any count, it's giving us fits right now,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “And we're going to have to earn getting pitches to hit in the zone, because we're trying to hit everything.”

Ober had already been plenty effective in his first two seasons, as he entered Friday with a career 3.66 ERA, but he’d been handcuffed by his injury history and relative lack of Minor League innings, leading the Twins to limit his innings and pitch counts -- often to the point of frustration for the 27-year-old.

There’s no more of that this season: Ober has pitched at least 5 2/3 innings in each of his three starts with the big league club. He had only done that five times in 31 starts across his first two Major League seasons.

“It felt really good to keep going out there,” Ober said. “Felt like I was still throwing really strong late in the game.”

This fully unleashed version of Ober is also dealing better stuff, as he noted that the warmer weather in Cleveland helped his fastball play up to an average of 92.1 mph on Friday, up from his 91.5 mph average of last season. He only expects his velocity to keep climbing as the weather continues to get better.

The Twins’ starting rotation entered the day with the best WAR, most innings pitched and second-best ERA in the Majors, per FanGraphs -- and it’s been an incredible luxury for them to have this version of Ober step in seamlessly, as dictated by injuries.

“When a guy takes over a game like that, he can win a game for you by himself,” Baldelli said. “That was close to what happened today.”