On Thursday afternoon the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays wrapped up their three game series.
Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober tossed 5 ⅓ innings, giving up three runs with seven strikeouts. Ober would end up being tagged with the loss.
Carlos Correa began the scoring in the top of the fourth inning, hitting a 406 foot home run, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.
YES. CARLOS CORREA. YES.
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 8, 2023
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Tampa retaliated with a Luke Raley RBI triple that tied the ballgame. The next batter was Harold Ramirez who hit a 416 foot two-run homer, giving the Rays a 3-1 lead.
Tampa extended its lead in the sixth inning to 4-1 on a throwing error by Twins relief pitcher Griffin Jax. Minnesota countered in the eighth inning with a 418 foot moonshot by Michael A. Taylor, cutting the deficit to 4-2, but that score would hold until the final out.
Michael A. Taylor *double checks* and touches ’em all! #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/0kOia4FCjX
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 8, 2023
Rocco Baldelli and Bailey Ober met with media after the loss:
Tight ballgames
Not scoring runs
Lots of frustrationHear from #MNTwins manager Rocco Baldelli. pic.twitter.com/zfM8Z9rzye
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 8, 2023
“It got in my head a little bit that I didn’t feel safe out there. … If he checks me again and he’s a little ticked off [he] could toss me.”
Bailey Ober says he wasn’t “super rattled” after being asked to wash his hands because of too much sweat and rosin, but it impacted him. pic.twitter.com/26pXiPKmSV
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 8, 2023
The Twins will now head north to Toronto for a three game weekend series against the Blue Jays beginning on Friday night. First pitch is slated for 6:07 p.m. with Sonny Gray getting the nod for Minnesota.