MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bailey Ober pitched six shutout innings and Carlos Santana and Ryan Jeffers each hit solo home runs for the Minnesota Twins in a 4-2 victory over the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians on Friday in the opener of a doubleheader commencing a four-game series between the division front-runners.
Royce Lewis and Kyle Farmer also drove in runs for the Twins, who dealt the Guardians their sixth straight defeat and moved within 2½ games of first place. That’s the closest the Twins (64-50) have been since May 16, when they entered a three-game series at Cleveland that the Guardians (67-48) swept.
Ober (12-5) has elevated himself into a legitimate ace at just the right time for the Twins, who shelved starting pitcher Joe Ryan with a shoulder injury before the game that puts his availability in question for the remainder of the regular season.
“It’s tough when guys go down, especially with how they’ve been doing,” Ober said. “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.”
The 6-foot-9 right-hander, in his fourth year in the major leagues, dominated with just two hits and two walks allowed and nine strikeouts in a career-high 106 pitches against a lineup loaded with eight left-handed hitters. Ober logged his ninth consecutive quality start with three runs or fewer allowed and six innings or more completed, keeping the Guardians repeatedly guessing — late on his fastball and ahead on his changeup.
“I think we could’ve done a better job today, I really do, but at the same time he had his ‘A’ stuff,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “He kept us off balance.”
Joey Cantillo (0-2), who was recalled from Triple-A as the 27th player for the doubleheader, gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings in his third major league start for the Guardians.
Brayan Rocchio’s two-run homer in the seventh off Jorge Alcala brought the Guardians within 3-2, but Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran finished strong out of the bullpen for the Twins. Duran struck out the side for his 16th save.
The afternoon game was a makeup from a rainout on April 7, the first of eight games left between the division rivals over the final 7½ weeks. The Guardians won the first five matchups earlier this season and host a four-game series next month. The Twins next week host Kansas City for a three-game series, with the Royals on their heels at just a half-game back in the AL wild card race entering the day.
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Guardians: RHP Alex Cobb was set to start the second game in his debut both for this season and for Cleveland, which acquired him for prospects on July 30 in a trade with San Francisco. The 36-year-old Cobb had offseason hip surgery after making his first All-Star game last year for the Giants.
Twins: RHP Louie Varland (0-4, 6.58 ERA) was recalled from Triple-A as the 27th player for the doubleheader and slated to pitch the night game. Varland was in the season-opening rotation but sent down after four starts.
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