Minnesota Twins beat Phillies, now 4 games behind Guardians

MINNEAPOLIS — — Minnesota starter Bailey Ober recovered from a two-run homer by Bryce Harper in the first inning to last seven innings. The Twins defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 on Monday night.

Ober (9-5) threw just 83 pitches and retired 17 of his last 18 batters, getting a double-play grounder to retire the lone baserunner in the series. The 6-foot-9 right-handed pitcher 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 that you should just leave him in the game and let him pitch.”

Cole Sands closed the season with two scoreless innings for the Twins, who limited the Phillies to one hit in their final 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 dropped 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 especially proud of their production against the left-hander in his seventh year.

Carlos Santana hit an RBI double in the seventh and Max Kepler hit an RBI single to give the Twins (55-44) a three-run eighth inning, snapping a three-game losing streak and moving just four games behind leader Cleveland in the AL Central.

Coverage of Game 2 begins Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN 102.3/AM 1000 KSOO, as Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (10-4, 2.70 ERA) pitches against RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.51) in the middle game of the series.