Bailey Ober
vs
Tanner Bibee
Twins should be up 2-0 this series but at least they have not fully collapsed and are at 1-1.
In non-pitching news, Buxton played his 94th game yesterday, the highest total since 2017's 140 (!!?) games. In his 94 games, he's accumulated 3.4 fWAR. Getting to 120 games next year could put him at a 4+ fWAR season.
Split doubleheader day!
Day game:
Joey Cantillo
vs
Bailey Ober
Night game on Apple TV+:
Alex Cobb
vs
Louie Varland
Doug Allison (1846)
Lee Meadows (1894)
Johnny Wyrostek (1919)
Jack Harshmann (1927)
Ron Fairly (1938)
Tom Tischinski (1944)
Scipio Spinks (1947)
Mario Soto (1956)
Mike Munoz (1965)
Adam Johnson (1979)
Phil Dumatrait (1981)
Tom Gorzelanny (1982)
Howie Kendrick (1983)
Tony Sipp (1983)
Nick Vincent (1986)
Chasen Shreve (1990)
Bailey Ober (1995)
Doubleheader day in progress.
Day game:
JP Sears
vs
Bailey Ober
Night game:
Joey Estes
vs
Chris Paddack
DAY GAME ALERT!
First pitch @ 12:10 p.m. CT
On the Twins website today, the top story is about Bailey Ober's complete futility against the Royals. Ober has a 7.71 ERA in nine career starts against KC, and a 3.36 ERA against everyone else. So Jeff A is not the only one to notice that the Royals just seem to own Ober.
Today Chris Paddack takes the mound for the Twins, countered by Brady Singer for the Royals. Paddack has been a fairly reliable mid-rotation starter this year, pitching to a 4.39 ERA in ten starts. Singer has been quite good this season, sporting a 2.63 ERA and a WHIP of just 1.12.
The ass bats were back on full display last night and the Twins futility at the plate was palpable. What was last year a weak division that we won fairly handily seems much more competitive this year. KC has been building up for a few years and looks like a real contender. But the team to beat to get to the top has to be Cleveland. They have been our closest competition in the division the last couple of years and this year they are playing like champions again. But there's lots of season left and we all know about the sudden reversals of fortune that can occur in sports. Hell, that's what makes it worth watching.
Play ball!
Seth Lugo
vs
Bailey Ober
30-24 in 54 games is a 90-72 team. That's three wins better than last season but I'm not sure that's enough to win the suddenly competitive division this season. The #1, #4, and #5 records, by winning percentage in the AL, are in the ALC right now. Expanded postseason gives the Twins the final wild card but it's a tenuous position.
Attempting to improve that situation is Ober who was knocked out in the second inning of his March 31 start against the Royals. Now two of his earned runs happened after he left but it was still 6-0 before that. His opponent, Lugo, was scoreless over his six innings the day before with the Twins scoring five after he left to get the win. While the result was good, the way to get there doesn't seem repeatable.
Ober had to use a lot of pitches, but gets out of the first no problem. Manoah on the mound for the Jays. Hopefully he continues to be disappointing.
Day game alert!
Bailey Ober
vs
Chris Flexen
The Twins lost a few too many to start the season for a proper 162-0 season but I am convinced of their effort over the past week to instead finish at 149-13.
Is it still "early"? Let's hope so.
I'm not feeling very confident about this series, but as Joaquin Andujar told us many years ago, the one word that describes baseball is youneverknow. Bailey Ober should be able to lower his ERA tonight. Go Twins!
