Twins even series with Tigers thanks to a series of sacrifice flies

MINNEAPOLIS — Nothing has come easy for the Twins during their miserable start to the season, so why would a four-run lead be any different when they were on the verge of ending their five-game losing streak.

Bailey Ober was magnificent in his second straight start against the Detroit Tigers, permitting two hits and one run across six efficient innings. The offense delivered three runs through sacrifice flies, just the fourth time in the last decade they've had that many in a game.

But it took reliever Cole Sands stranding two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning and Matt Bowman leaving another runner on base in the eighth inning to secure a 4-3 victory at Target Field, the club's second home win of the season.

The Twins have often trailed in the early innings this year, but Ober set the tone. He retired his first 13 batters and 17 of his first 18. He didn't even reach a three-ball count until he issued a two-out walk in the sixth inning, completing five innings in 58 pitches.

Matt Vierling provided the Tigers with their first baserunner when he hit a first-pitch fastball to center field for a single in the fifth inning. Ober responded by striking out his next four batters.

Since a disastrous first start in Kansas City, in the Twins' first series of the season, Ober has allowed eight hits and two runs in his last 17 innings (1.06 ERA) with 16 strikeouts. He drew swings and misses with all five pitches in his repertoire Saturday, striking out six of the nine hitters in his second time through the Tigers lineup.

The Tigers finally chipped away at Ober with two outs in the sixth inning. Riley Greene drew a walk and Wenceel Pérez followed with an RBI triple into the right-field corner.

The Twins were hitless in 10 at-bats with a runner in scoring position, but found ways to score through a similar script.

Byron Buxton, who snapped a 32 at-bat hitless streak against Detroit pitchers Friday, opened the second inning with a double to left field. He advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The third inning played out almost the same way. Austin Martin pulled a leadoff double to left field — like Buxton, the double came on a sinker that caught the middle of the plate. Martin moved to third on a groundout before scoring on another sacrifice fly.

No hits with a runner in scoring position, but a 2-0 lead.

Poor defense helped spot the Twins a couple of runs in the fifth inning. Martin hit a ground ball to Javier Báez, Detroit's shortstop, and it turned into two bases when the throw bounced past first baseman Spencer Torkelson. Following a strikeout and a walk, Torkelson booted a ground ball, which allowed Martin to score and Ryan Jeffers to move from first to third base with one out.

Trevor Larnach saw his teammates rewarded for putting the ball in play, and he fouled seven straight pitches from Tigers starter Reese Olson before he lofted a sacrifice fly to left field.

The Tigers scored a run in the seventh inning when Báez hit an RBI double off Sands, and another run in the eighth inning, but Griffin Jax earned his second save with a clean ninth inning.