The Phillies were at Target Field for the first time since 2016, when their lineup featured 36-year-old Ryan Howard and his .710 OPS batting cleanup. They’ve come a long way since then and no two players exemplify that more than superstars Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, who got the scoring started in this series.
Harper crushed a two-strike fastball from Ober in his first Target Field AB, giving the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. Ober finished the inning without anymore damage, but a leadoff single in the second had the Phillies feeling good. Luckily for the Twins, Philadelphia went hitless for the rest of the night.
Ober proceeded to throw an absolute gem for the rest of the game. He retired 18 of the 19 next batters he faced. The only man who reached was Trea Turner in the sevens via walk, but that was immediately erased when Harper bounced into a double play. When it was all said and done, Ober finished seven innings on just 83 pitches, giving the bullpen a much needed respite after a chaotic series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Twins had their work cut out for them facing the All-Star lefty Ranger Suarez, but they were able to do just enough against the Phillies’ starter. Willi Castro got the scoring started for Minnesota with a clutch two-out RBI single in the third inning. A Kepler single and Diego Castillo double to start the fifth then set up Manny Margot, who slapped a two-run single to right field to put the Twins on top 3-2, where they would stay for the rest of the game.
With Ober dealing, the Twins were finally able to add an insurance run in the seventh inning thanks to doubles from Ryan Jeffers and Carlos Santana. They were finally able to put the game out of reach in the eighth thanks to some timely hitting by the Twins and timely wildness by Philly reliever Yunior Marte. A Larnach double and Kepler single brought in Minnesota’s fifth run of the game. Edouard Julien and Ryan Jeffers both reached, bringing All-Star Willi Castro to the plate with the bases loaded. Marte lost the strike zone, walking Willi on a bunch of pitches that weren’t close to bring in a run, and then allowed one more Twin to come in on a wild pitch. When it was all said and done, the Twins led 7-2 and Cole Sands finished the game without a hitch.
