Philadelphia Phillies at Minnesota Twins
· Major League Baseball2 - 7
Twins top Phillies 7-2, after Ober rebounds from Harper's early 2-run homer to finish 7 innings
Ober (9-5) threw only 83 pitches and retired 17 of his last 18 batters, getting a double-play grounder to erase the lone baserunner in that stretch. The 6-foot-9 right-hander gave up four hits and one walk and improved to 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA in his last six starts.
“He looked great,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You could almost make an argument to just leave him in the game and let him keep throwing.”
Cole Sands finished with two scoreless innings for the Twins, who held the Phillies to one hit in their last 27 at-bats.
Willi Castro had an RBI single in the third and Manny Margot hit the go-ahead two-run single in the fifth against Phillies starter Ranger Suárez (10-5), who lost his fourth straight decision and failed to finish the sixth inning for the third time in his last four starts. Despite Suárez's recent slide, the Twins were particularly proud of their production against the seventh-year left-hander.
“He’s a phenomenal pitcher," Margot said through an interpreter. "The way he mixes his pitches is great.”
Suárez, who gave up seven hits and one walk in 5 1/3 innings, was one of eight Phillies selected as All-Stars. He didn't pitch in the game because of back spasms, however, and his ERA has risen from 1.36 to 2.87 over the last two months. The Phillies had him on an 85-pitch limit.
“Much better,” manager Rob Thomson said. “The velocity was a little bit better than it was in his last couple starts. I thought he landed his breaking ball when he needed to behind in the count, and he put the breaking ball where he wanted to on his put-away pitches."
Carlos Santana added an RBI double in the seventh and Max Kepler hit an RBI single to spark a three-run eighth for the Twins (55-44), who stopped a three-game losing streak and moved within four games of first-place Cleveland in the AL Central. That's the closest they've been to the lead since May 17.
After the first pitch was delayed by 90 minutes due to a severe storm that soaked the downtown ballpark, Harper followed a single by Trea Turner with his hardest-hit ball of the season. The 424-foot homer that landed in the right-field gathering space was measured at 113.8 mph off the bat by MLB's Statcast data.
The eight-time All-Star and two-time NL MVP, who has 23 homers and 65 RBI this year, played at Target Field for the first time in his 13 seasons to check the boxes on all 30 current major league ballparks.
The Twins lugged into the game an ominous 2-19 record against opponents with currently superior records: the Orioles, Guardians, Dodgers, Yankees and Brewers.
The only other club in that category is of course the baseball-best Phillies (63-37), who strutted into their first visit to Target Field in eight years with the best team ERA in the major leagues and a top-five placing in most hitting measures.
“It shows what type of team we have here,” Ober said, "and that we can play with anyone.”
The Phillies have lost five of their last seven games.
“We’re going through one of those times when we pitch we don’t hit and when we hit we don’t pitch," Thomson said. "That’s part of this long season, and we’ll come out of it.”
ALMOST THERE
Twins 3B Royce Lewis (strained groin) will start a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday. Lewis has missed the last 14 games, but he's avoided another long-term absence — he missed 58 games earlier this season to a strained quadriceps — by immediately identifying and reporting the problem.
“Normally, that’s something where I feel that tightness and I don’t say anything,” Lewis said before the game. “I think the goal, ultimately, is learning I don’t have to be Superman.”
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (10-4, 2.70 ERA) pitches on Tuesday night, and RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.51) takes the mound for the Twins in the middle game of the series.
How can I watch Philadelphia Phillies vs. Minnesota Twins?
- TV Channel: Phillies at Twins 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on Bally Sports North.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
9th Inning | Realmuto flied out to right. | |
9th Inning | Bohm safe at first on throwing error by shortstop Castro, Bohm safe at second on error. | |
9th Inning | Harper struck out swinging. | |
9th Inning | Turner flied out to right. | |
9th Inning | Martin as designated hitter. | |
8th Inning | Lee grounded out to pitcher. |
Statistics
PHI | MIN | |
---|---|---|
1 | Games Played | 1 |
1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
0 | Hit By Pitch | 1 |
11 | Ground Balls | 11 |
6 | Strikeouts | 8 |
2 | Runs Batted In | 6 |
0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
4 | Hits | 12 |
0 | Stolen Bases | 1 |
1 | Walks | 5 |
0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
2 | Runs | 7 |
1 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
31 | At Bats | 36 |
1 | Home Runs | 0 |
0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
7 | Runners Left On Base | 25 |
0 | Triples | 0 |
0 | Game Winning RBIs | 1 |
0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
0 | Doubles | 4 |
14 | Fly Balls | 17 |
0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
113 | Pitches | 151 |
0 | Games Started | 0 |
1 | Pinch At Bats | 1 |
0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
0 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
7 | Total Bases | 16 |
32 | Plate Appearances | 42 |
162.0 | Projected Home Runs | 0.0 |
1 | Extra Base Hits | 4 |
0.1 | Runs Created | 7.4 |
.129 | Batting Average | .333 |
.000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
.226 | Slugging Percentage | .444 |
.129 | Secondary Average | .278 |
.156 | On Base Percentage | .429 |
.382 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .873 |
0.8 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.6 |
0.1 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 8.4 |
15.0 | Batter Rating | 47.0 |
31.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 0.0 |
0.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
3.53 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 3.60 |
.097 | Isolated Power | .111 |
0.17 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.63 |
.031 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .119 |
.000 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | -.056 |
4.0 | Runs Produced | 13.0 |
1.0 | Runs Ratio | 0.9 |
0.3 | Patience Ratio | 0.5 |
0.1 | Balls In Play Average | 0.4 |
66.0 | MLB Rating | 93.8 |
0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 29,904 | Capacity:
2024 National League East Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia | 95 | 67 | .586 | - | W1 |
Atlanta | 89 | 73 | .549 | 6 | W1 |
New York | 89 | 73 | .549 | 6 | L1 |
Washington | 71 | 91 | .438 | 24 | L1 |
Miami | 62 | 100 | .383 | 33 | W4 |
2024 American League Central Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland | 92 | 69 | .571 | - | L2 |
Kansas City | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6.5 | W1 |
Detroit | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6.5 | L2 |
Minnesota | 82 | 80 | .506 | 10.5 | L4 |
Chicago | 41 | 121 | .253 | 51.5 | W2 |