Twins sweep Guardians in doubleheader, pull within 1 1/2 games of AL Central lead

MINNEAPOLIS — Bailey Ober’s shutdown streak collided with the Guardians’ 2024 dominance over the Twins on Friday.

Ober’s run lives on. And the Twins’ chances in the AL Central have sprung to life.

The Twins’ tall right-hander pitched six scoreless innings in the first game of a split doubleheader at Target Field, earning Minnesota’s first victory of the season over the first-place Guardians, 4-2.

In the second game, Louie Varland came within one strike of completing five shutout innings, but Josh Naylor spoiled his start with a three-run homer. It didn’t matter, though, once Matt Wallner came to the rescue of his fellow East Metro native, hitting a three-run home run of his own to rally the Twins to a 6-3 win and a sweep of the doubleheader.

On a day when the Twins lost Joe Ryan from their starting rotation, starting pitchers gave them hope that they can survive without him.

“We’re ready for this series and are just going to go out there and play our baseball,” Ober said after improving to 12-5 on the season. “It’s tough when guys go down. We’re hurting for them. We’re hoping they can get as healthy as they can.”

The Twins, who trailed the Guardians by nine games just over six weeks ago, look awfully healthy in the standings. Minnesota has won seven of its last nine, while Cleveland has lost seven in a row. The result: The Twins trail the AL Central leaders by just 1 1/2 games, the closest they have been to first place since May 13.

Varland was on the roster as the Twins’ 27th man for the doubleheader, but he could get plenty more work with the Twins in Ryan’s absence. He allowed only three singles, two of them infield hits, in his first four innings, a good sign for a pitcher whose results have been inconsistent in the majors and Class AAA this year.

The Twins staked him to a lead, too, with Willi Castro stealing a run by stealing home. As Wallner took off for second base on a 3-2 pitch, Cleveland starter Alex Cobb threw ball four to Royce Lewis. Catcher Austin Hedges, however, threw the ball to second base and Castro, standing at third base, raced home before the Guardians could get the ball back to Hedges.

Ahead 2-0 in the fifth, Varland allowed two more singles and, with two outs and two strikes on Naylor, left a curveball over the middle of the plate. It landed in the right-field seats, Naylor’s 26th of the season, and Varland eventually trudged to the dugout trailing, 3-2.

The Twins responded immediately, though, with a two-out rally. Castro and Trevor Larnach singled and Wallner delighted the crowd of 28,605 with a home run just a few rows from where Naylor’s landed.

They added an insurance run in the seventh when Christian Vázquez was awarded home after umpire Jim Wolf called a balk on Cleveland reliever Tim Herrin. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt protested and was rewarded with his first career ejection.

In the first game, longtime Cleveland slugger Carlos Santana homered against his ex-teammates and Ryan Jeffers added his team-high 17th blast to support Ober, who recorded his ninth consecutive quality start of six or more innings and three or fewer runs.

“It’s pretty cool. Every time I step out on the field, that’s what I’m trying to do,” Ober said of the longest streak such streak by a Twin since Johan Santana reeled off 21 in a row in 2004. “I’m blessed and lucky enough to have that streak going, but it’s not too much on my mind right now. I’m just trying to pitch as best as I can every single day.”

Ober struck out nine, walked just two, and gave up only two hits, both of them harmless singles by Will Brennan. In fact, Ober has surrendered only five hits and two runs in his previous 26 innings, an 0.69 ERA over that stretch.