Most of Bailey Ober’s pitches failed him in his first start of the season.
Since then, the Minnesota Twins right-hander has been effective thanks to one: his changeup.
Ober will aim to perfect that pitch again on Wednesday afternoon as he tries to help the red-hot Twins record a three-game sweep of the host Chicago White Sox.
“We kind of harped going into this season: If I can get the (changeup) over the plate and down, it’s gonna have good results,” Ober said.
Winners of nine straight games, the Twins have opened the series with back-to-back, come-from-behind, one-run victories to improve to 6-0 against Chicago this season.
A pair of key contributors recently activated from the injured list added to the latest triumph. Shortstop Carlos Correa had an RBI single in Tuesday’s 6-5 win, while Jhoan Duran picked up the save in his season debut.
“It’s tough,” Chicago third baseman Danny Mendick said. “I mean, I felt like whenever we answered them, they answered us. It was kind of going back and forth.”
Now, the Twins will turn to a veteran who manager Rocco Baldelli calls “as consistent of a starting pitcher as I’ve ever seen.”
Ober (2-1, 4.21 ERA) went 2-0 with a 1.48 ERA in four April starts on the heels of a disastrous first outing. He’s been much improved since surrendering three homers among the eight runs and nine hits he allowed in 1 1/3 innings at Kansas City on March 31.
Chicago was riding a high of its own before the Twins arrived in town this week.
The White Sox were the victims during the first four games of the Twins’ current tear as part of a 3-22 start. Chicago swept the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend to double its win total but continues to struggle against Minnesota, which has claimed 15 of the past 19 meetings.
One positive? The offense has found its stride. Chicago twice scored at least eight runs during the Tampa Bay series and on Tuesday out-hit the Twins 12-9.
Tommy Pham, Gavin Sheets, Andrew Vaughn and Mendick contributed two hits apiece, with Mendick hitting a two-run home run that put the White Sox ahead 4-2 in the fifth inning.
“Moving forward, there’s a lot of baseball left,” Mendick said. “Things this month have been kind of tough, but … the energy is high, and that’s really all you need to turn things around. So hopefully we can start to turn things around in the next couple months and kind of prove what we’re about.”
Right-hander Chris Flexen (1-3, 5.11) is set to start for Chicago on Wednesday. Flexen pitched 2 1/3 innings of one-run relief against the Twins on April 22 as part of a brief detour to the bullpen. He returned to the rotation Friday, scattering two hits in five scoreless innings to defeat the Rays.
Flexen is 1-2 with a 4.01 ERA in five appearances vs. Minnesota, including four starts.
Ober is 3-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 10 career starts against the White Sox.
–Field Level Media
