Ober wins 1st, Kepler hits 2 homers, Twins top White Sox 8-5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rookie Bailey Ober pitched five scoreless innings for his first major league victory, Max Kepler homered twice and the Minnesota Twins held off the Chicago White Sox 8-5 on Monday night.

Ober (1-1) hit the milestone in his seventh career start, with seven strikeouts and two hits and three walks allowed. In two previous turns against the White Sox, he gave up nine runs in 7 1/3 innings.

Kepler hit a two-run home run in the second. With an RBI single by Trevor Larnach and a two-run triple from Nick Gordon, the Twins built a 6-1 lead and gave White Sox starter Dylan Cease (7-4) the hook in the sixth inning.

Then the AL Central leaders surged back with a four-run seventh, getting a two-run single by Leury García against Caleb Thielbar and a two-run triple by Yoán Moncada off Tyler Duffey.

Moncada was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a chopper to third for the first out of the inning, and then the Twins turned to their best reliever to take back control. Taylor Rogers got five outs, four by strikeout, in a superb six-batter appearance.

Hansel Robles pitched a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.

These rivals have had a tense season on the field, if not in the standings, from rookie Yermín Mercedes angering the Twins with a home run off a 3-0 pitch from position player Willians Astudillo in May to Josh Donaldson irritating the White Sox with an insinuation that the drop in spin rate on Lucas Giolito's pitches is tied to baseball's crackdown on sticky substances.

The White Sox brought a 14 1/2-game lead on the last-place Twins into the series, having won eight of the first nine matchups this year by a cumulative 76-37 score, but Ober was up to the task. The 6-foot-9 right-hander set the tone by striking out the side in the first inning. He...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Ober-wins-1st-Kepler-hits-2-homers-Twins-top-16294857.php