MINNEAPOLIS –Tuesday night at Target Field featured a contest between two of the league’s tallest pitchers in Bailey Ober (6-feet-9) and Eury Pérez (6-foot-8). Despite being very close in height to each other, the two couldn’t be any different from one another with how they pitch.
Pérez attacks hitters with his high-heat fastball, averaging 98.1 mph on the season, but Ober mixes in speeds, trying to keep hitters guessing with his off-speed pitches, and a fastball that infrequently goes over 90 mph.
In an age where velo is everything, Ober was able to throw a Maddux on 89 pitches and checked off his first career complete game shutout with his fastball averaging 88.8 mph in the Twins' 3-0 victory.
It’s the first Maddux by a Twins pitcher since Ervin Santana’s against the Giants on June 9, 2017, and just the second on fewer than 90 pitches since pitch counts began being tracked in 1988, joining Bill Krueger on April 17, 1992.
The right-hander allowed just two hits and no walks.
Ober was on a roll this season until his last time out against the Nationals, where he allowed five runs on six hits, two walks, and a home run. Ober had also gone three consecutive starts striking out three or fewer batters, after striking out 10 batters in his outing against the Reds on April 19.
He managed seven strikeouts through his outing against the Marlins on Tuesday night, which is his second-most in a start this season, only behind his 10 against the Reds on April 19, and matching his seven against the Red Sox on April 13.
Ober’s last complete game came in a rain-shortened 4-2 loss in Cincinnati last year. His last nine-inning complete game came in Oakland on June 22, 2024, in a 10-2 victory for the Twins over the A’s.
The complete game was already checked off, but a shutout was still something Ober was hoping to accomplish in his career.