Twins returning to health with Bailey Ober back in action in loss to Cleveland

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 9, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins have been one of Major League Baseball’s best teams throughout the past three weeks, but Cleveland Guardians starter Gavin Williams presented a different challenge Thursday at Target Field.

Williams retired his first 13 batters, carrying a perfect game into the fifth inning, and he struck out 11 batters to match his season high.

The Twins, who have the highest-scoring offense in the American League, were shut down in a 4-2 loss, snapping their four-game winning streak.

The loss, which dropped the Twins’ record to 46-48, spoiled their chance at reaching a .500 record for the first time since they were 12-12 on April 22.

Each game is critical ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, but the Twins, who produced only three hits Thursday, have won seven of their last eight series. They sit 2 1/2 games back in the American League Central standings, and one game out of a potential wild-card spot with three games left before the All-Star break.

The Twins should be receiving a boost with some of their injured players returning, too. Bailey Ober surrendered three hits and one run across five innings in his first start after a five-week stint on the injured list because of right elbow inflammation.

Ober, who retired 13 of his first 15 batters, gave up a solo homer to Gabriel Arias in the second inning, an 83-mph slider that was rocketed to center field.

Catcher Ryan Jeffers was in the clubhouse Thursday morning, after playing five games at Class AAA on a rehab assignment, signaling he is expected to be activated for the upcoming series against the Los Angeles Angels.

Twins lefty reliever Anthony Banda confirmed he will miss the remainder of the 2026 season after he underwent lat surgery, and Connor Prielipp was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday because of a persistent blister on his left middle finger.

But the Twins hope to have Byron Buxton available after the All-Star break, and it’s possible Prielipp may miss only one start with the timing of the break.

The Guardians, who played much cleaner defense than they did in the previous two games, pulled ahead in the sixth inning when Chase DeLauter drilled a solo homer off Twins lefty Kendry Rojas in the sixth inning.

Cleveland added two more runs in the seventh after Rojas issued a pair of one-out walks. Brayan Rocchio, batting with two outs, lined a two-run double just above the outstretched glove of Twins third baseman Brooks Lee.

The Twins had, really, one real chance at scoring against Williams, loading the bases with one out in the fifth inning. Royce Lewis blooped a single to center, giving the Twins their first baserunner, before Alan Roden drew a walk and Luke Keaschall was hit by a pitch.

Tristan Gray drove in a run, pulling an RBI single to right field, but Williams didn’t let up afterward with a ground ball that turned into an out at the plate, and an inning-ending strikeout against Trevor Larnach.

Royce Lewis added a solo homer off Williams in the seventh inning, sending a sweeper into the second deck in left field for his ninth home run of the season, but the Twins didn’t have another baserunner afterward.