MINNEAPOLIS –Tuesday night at Target Field featured a contest between two of the league’s tallest pitchers in Bailey Ober (6-foot-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.
“We were talking if under 100 is a Maddux, we’re going to have to name under 90 an Ober,” Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “He was just under control. He was executing pitches.”
“You kind of lose a little feeling in your limbs and kind of tingling a little bit,” Ober said of how he felt after first baseman Kody Clemens made the final out. “So it was super exciting. Something as a pitcher, you always hope to be able to achieve, be able to throw a complete-game shutout and help the team, help the bullpen.”
It’s the first shutout of Ober’s career, and the first Maddux by a Twins pitcher since Ervin Santana’s against the Giants on June 9, 2017.
The right-hander allowed just two hits and no walks. After the Twins scored three runs in the fifth on a Byron Buxton steal of home and Jeffers’ two-run home run, Ober felt pretty confident about going deep into this start.
“The command was elite tonight,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “The ability to use the changeup versus right and versus left, mixed the fastball and got a ton of early-count soft contact, a lot of early-count popups. Overall, there’s not much you can say other than that was just outstanding.”
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 tied for 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.
“I felt like I was able to just locate. I felt like I was able to put my hand in different spots through the sweeper, changeup, slider, fastball. Just being able to mix and not have to worry about finding my release on each pitch,” Ober said.
“He’s been working really, really hard on a lot of mechanics stuff,” Jeffers said. “Sometimes, that takes a toll on the execution. Once you settle in with your mechanics, you get outings like tonight.”
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. Funny enough, he threw exactly 89 pitches in that complete game -- just like Tuesday night’s shutout.
“I'd take this game over that one though because I think I gave up two home runs during that game. That's pretty wild that they were both the same pitch count,” said Ober.
Ober now joins a list he was already on, marking the sixth time since 1988 a Twins pitcher has thrown a complete game on 90 pitches or fewer, which also includes Carlos Silva (74 on 5/20/05), John Smiley (80 on 10/2/92), Bill Krueger (85 on 4/17/92), and Rick Aguilera (9/26/89).
Krueger was the only member of the group who had thrown a complete game shutout, prior to Tuesday.