While the offense was held listless by Ober, the Minnesota offense kept hitting. The sixth inning saw the Twins load the bases against Suarez and Orion Kerkering with one out, but Kerkering was just able to wiggle out of the jam, giving the Phillies some hope.
There just....wasn’t any.
Minnesota got another in seventh thanks to a Carlos Santana RBI double that made it 4-2, but still - that’s a score that doesn’t mean the game is over!
Enter Yunior Marte.
Now, Marte was just recalled the other day. He has seen stretches this year where he has been an effective pitcher. Tonight, he was not. Possessing little to no control on the evening, he allowed a double, a single and a walk to begin the eighth inning. Somehow, he struck out Eduardo Julien to get the first out, but then a single, a walk and a wild pitch gave the Twins two more runs and made it 7-2. He got out of the inning, but one has to wonder what other situation the team would feel comfortable putting him back on the mound.
The story tonight, though, was the offense. Two baserunners after the second inning isn’t exactly the recipe for success, but that’s how they performed on the game. It’s been a rough go of it lately, but there is still a big lead in the division. That’s about the only solace to take from a game like this.
This was the first time the Phillies had been to Minnesota since 2016, a span of eight years. After tonight, they may want to wait another eight years before returning.
It started great! Bryce Harper, having never been to Target Field made his presence felt right away in the first inning. Getting a cutter that didn’t exactly cut, he deposited the baseball way into the deck chairs.
And the positivity didn’t end there just yet. Ranger Suarez, making his first start after the All-Star break since the team paused him a bit with some back issues, looked quite good the first two innings, getting Minnesota down rather easily. For the offense, there were three hits in the first inning, which is a great sign, then a leadoff single by none other than Bryson Stott...
...then nothing.
For the rest of the game.
Bailey Ober, Suarez’s opposition on the mound, simply went into another realm after allowing that single in the second inning to Stott. Using an array of stuff, Ober was able to keep the Phillies off balance, setting down twelve hitters in a row at one point until a walk in the sixth inning to Trea Turner. He allowed his offense to start to chip away at Suarez. In the third, the Twins grabbed a run on a Willi Castro single that scored a run, but it was the fifth inning that hurt the most. Max Kepler led off with a single, then was followed by a whoopsie double by Diego Castillo that somehow found the grass behind first base. Manuel Margot then came up and rapped a single past Harper at first and the Twins had a lead.
Ranger Suarez looked good but by no means the dominant pitcher we saw for much of the first half of the Phillies' season.
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