Twins lose rubber game to Diamondbacks

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 14, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — Bailey Ober threw 101 pitches Sunday and there was probably only one that he wished he had back.

Ober, who has battled his pitching mechanics almost all season and thrown with lower velocity, struck out a season-high nine batters across six innings. He yielded four hits and zero walks in what could have been one of his better outings this year.

The one exception came in the fourth inning. With two runners on base and two outs, Ober surrendered a go-ahead, three-run homer to Arizona Diamondbacks catcher James McCann on a first-pitch fastball, and the Twins never closed their deficit in a 6-4 loss at Target Field.

The Twins loaded the bases during the last two innings. After three straight batters reached with two outs in the ninth, Matt Wallner flew out to right field for the game-ending out against lefty reliever Kyle Bachus.

In the eighth, Carson McCusker, who has accumulated three at-bats since he was promoted to the big leagues on Sept. 7, entered as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded against Arizona lefty Jalen Beeks. McCusker, in a 2-0 count, bounced a ground-ball to shortstop to end the threat.

The Twins, who lost two of their three games to the D-backs, have dropped nine of their past 10 series. They have a 3-10 record in September and an 18-35 record since the All-Star break.

Ober pitched into trouble in the fourth inning when he hit Blaze Alexander with a pitch and he gave up a double to Jordan Lawlar on a line drive down the third-base line. Ober struck out Alek Thomas, which led to a brief delay when the D-backs questioned whether catcher Mickey Gasper caught a foul tip without the ball hitting the dirt.

His first pitch to McCann was an 89 mph fastball that was bashed to the bleachers in left field. Ober turned to watch the ball and bent at the waist.

Ober, who threw more changeups than fastballs and drew a lot of whiffs with his sweeper, retired his final seven batters after McCann’s homer. But it already ruined his outing. He allowed a run in the second inning, too, after he allowed a two-out double to Thomas and an RBI single to McCann.

The Twins pulled within one run twice — Wallner and Gasper hit solo homers in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively — but the D-backs kept answering with a run of their own. Tim Tawa hit a two-out RBI single off Génesis Cabrera in the seventh and Thomas drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth after Arizona loaded the bases with no outs against Twins reliever Michael Tonkin.

In the bottom of the eighth, Brooks Lee drew a two-out walk with two runners on base against Anthony DeSclafani, who was on the Twins’ roster last year but underwent season-ending elbow surgery before the season started. McCusker pinch-hit for Gasper against Beeks, but he failed to add to his two career hits.

The Twins scored two runs in the second inning after a pair of errors from Lawlar, the D-backs third baseman. With Lewis on second base and two outs, Gasper hit a ground-ball toward Lawlar and Lewis may have caused the error by running in front of the third baseman.

Two pitches later, Edouard Julien lined an RBI single to left field off soft throwing right-hander Nabil Crismatt. Byron Buxton followed with another ground ball to third and his speed forced a hurried, off-target throw from Lawlar, allowing another run to score.

Crismatt permitted only three hits across five innings, retiring 10 of his last 11 batters.

The Twins left 10 men on base, producing one hit in nine at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

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