FORT MYERS, FLA. — Twins starter Bailey Ober struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches Sunday, and he felt as if he could have overpowered hitters if he kept throwing fastballs all afternoon at JetBlue Park.
Fortunately for the Boston Red Sox, Ober had other pitches he wanted to work on, too.
Three consecutive Red Sox batters reached base against Ober with one out in the second inning, then Rafael Devers hammered a three-run home run over Fenway South's version of the Green Monster when he faced minor league reliever John Stankiewicz. The Twins were handed an 8-6 loss, their first defeat of the spring.
"I feel like I could've dominated with fastballs only today, but I needed to go out there and throw my full repertoire," said Ober, who struck out three of his nine batters and permitted two singles and two walks. "I had to do stuff that I wouldn't necessarily do in the regular season if I was trying to read at-bats, but it felt good to be back out there."
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The Twins, after both teams substituted all their starting position players, erased a six-run deficit in the seventh inning. Their six-run rally was buoyed by an RBI double to center field on a ball lost in the sun, three consecutive walks, a single, a hit batsman and an error on a ground ball to first base.
Red Sox minor leaguer Nick Sogard hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning off righthander Caleb Boushley to quell the comeback bid.
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