ANAHEIM, Calif. — It took the Los Angeles Angels 10 batters before one reached base against Bailey Ober on Friday and 17 batters before they produced their first hit.

Ober seemingly presented hitters with two options: Swing early in the count, when he often produced weak contact, or hitters could take their chances trying to hit his changeup, which was responsible for six of his eight strikeouts.

Behind 7 1/3 innings from Ober, the Minnesota Twins extended their season-long winning streak to five games with a 5-3 victory at Angel Stadium. It matches their longest winning streak since they won six games in a row from May 18-24, 2022.

Ober matched the longest start of his career, a much-needed effort for the Twins when relievers Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart were likely unavailable after pitching in the previous two games. Ober, who exited after giving up a one-out double in the eighth inning, surrendered three hits, three walks and two runs.

Twins reliever Matt Bowman, who followed Ober, stranded two runners on base in the eighth inning with back-to-back strikeouts on called third strikes. Bowman recorded two outs and two walks in the ninth inning before Caleb Thielbar earned the save, after giving up an RBI single to his first batter.

One of the big questions hovering over the Twins all winter was how they would replace departed starters Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda. Ober, aside from a horrid start in Kansas City during the club's season-opening series, has been a beaming bright spot. He's permitted four runs and 11 hits in his last 24 1/3 innings (1.48 ERA) with 24 strikeouts.

Ober worked through the first three innings Friday in 29 pitches without a runner reaching base. His perfection ended with an eight-pitch walk to Mike Trout in the fourth inning, but catcher Christian Vázquez erased Ober's first baserunner when he threw out Trout attempting to steal second base.

After five no-hit innings, Angels second baseman Luis Rengifo dropped a bloop single that fell in shallow center field. On the next pitch, Zach Neto lined a cutter to the wall in center field for a double. Ober, faced with his first jam, struck out Trout, allowed a run on a groundout and ended the sixth inning when he struck out ex-Twin Ehire Adrianza.

The Twins, fresh off a four-game sweep over the Chicago White Sox, produced nine hits and four runs against Patrick Sandoval, the Angels' Opening Day starter. Carlos Santana, starting to show signs he's breaking out of a deep offensive slump, homered for the second consecutive game. After Santana fell into a 0-2 count, he watched two pitches out of the strike zone before launching a slider over the center-field wall for a 425-foot solo homer.

Willi Castro, batting ninth, sparked the offense with two doubles and a single. In the third inning, he hit a one-out single, moved to second base on an errant pickoff attempt and scored when Sandoval left a two-strike slider up in the strike zone to Byron Buxton, which was pulled through the left side of the infield.

Castro hit a two-out double in the fifth inning, scoring when Ryan Jeffers followed with a single, and he delivered an RBI double in the top of the ninth inning after Angels reliever Matt Moore walked two batters.

The Angels didn't help themselves with poor defense. They committed two errors, including a dropped infield pop-up, and the Twins took advantage of a misplay in the sixth inning when Jose Miranda hit a fly ball that dropped between Trout and right fielder Jo Adell. Santana, the next batter, hit an RBI single up the middle.

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