MILWAUKEE – Twins starting pitchers have thrown the third-most innings in the major leagues this season, but they probably could have used a few more from Bailey Ober on Tuesday night.
Ober, who allowed two hits and two runs in five innings, was lifted for righthanded reliever Dylan Floro in the sixth inning. Floro gave up two sharp hits in his first three pitches and the inning snowballed from there in the Twins' 7-3 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field.
"I was expecting to go back out for the sixth," Ober said. "I was about to take a couple steps out of the dugout. They told me to stay put and someone else was coming into the game."
Ober, who allowed a two-run homer in the first inning, had retired his last eight batters and exited after 78 pitches.
The Twins are looking for small ways to limit Ober's innings after he pushed past his single-season career high. He hasn't pitched beyond five innings in any of his last five starts. He's thrown 136 innings between the majors and Class AAA this year after pitching 72 innings in 2022 and 108 innings in 2021.
"We're trying to make the playoffs and win in the postseason," Ober said. "That's our plan and that's what I want to do. That's what I plan on trying to do. I'm not really worried about what their ideas are or what they're planning for me throughout the rest of the season. I can't control that. They're going to do what they want to do. I'm just going to try to take the mound and get some wins."
For the second start in a row, Ober matched his season high with three walks. He walked only six batters in a 10-start stretch from June 14-Aug. 9.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli conceded there was some consideration to Ober's total number of innings — "maybe a little bit," he said — but the Twins have targeted righthanded-heavy parts of the lineup for Floro, their only acquisition ahead of the trade deadline. Among the first five batters Floro faced, four were righties and one was a switch hitter.
