Bailey Ober allowed two hits over 7 1/3 innings and Matt Wallner hit a two-run homer to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Ober (2-3), making his third start since missing more than three months due to a groin injury, struck out the side in both the second and fifth innings and had a streak of five consecutive whiffs at one point. He finished with a career-high 10 strikeouts while walking one.
The 10 strikeouts, all swinging, matched the most by a Twins pitcher this season. Sonny Gray has accomplished the feat twice.
Ober retired the first 10 batters he faced before Yoan Moncada hit a double off the middle of the right field wall. He left after allowing a single to AJ Pollock with one out in the eighth, having thrown 91 pitches, 65 for strikes.
Griffin Jax struck out both batters he faced and Jhoan Duran fanned two in a perfect ninth inning to complete the two-hit shutout.
Jose Miranda went 3-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI and Gio Urshela had two hits for Minnesota (75-79), which won for just the second time in the past eight games.
Lance Lynn (7-7) took the loss after allowing four runs on 10 hits over five-plus innings. He walked one and struck out three as the White Sox (76-78) took their seventh straight loss.
Minnesota grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Jake Cave’s single drove in Miranda, who had led off with a single and advanced to second on a single by Urshela.
The Twins extended their lead to 2-0 in the third. Luis Arraez led off with a double and scored one out later on Miranda’s bloop double down the right field line.
Wallner made it 4-0 in the sixth with his second major league homer, a towering 341-foot drive down the right field line that landed just over the wall. The blast drove in Gary Sanchez, who had walked.
The contest was the opener of a three-game series.
–Field Level Media
