Detroit Tigers held to one hit by Bailey Ober in 5-0 loss to Minnesota Twins

Matt Vierling saved the Detroit Tigers from embarrassment.

Vierling didn’t do anything special, but his single off right-hander Bailey Ober in the fourth inning kept the Tigers from being no-hit by the Minnesota Twins in Sunday’s finale of a three-game series at Comerica Park.

The Tigers lost, 5-0.

The offense finished with one hit, three walks and 13 strikeouts.

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The Tigers (52-55) ran another bullpen-only game, an all-too-common occurrence with only three pitchers in the starting rotation. Right-hander Kenta Maeda consumed the bulk of the work, taking down five innings as the third of six pitchers.

But Ober — a 29-year-old who entered with a 4.09 ERA in 19 starts — stole the show in Sunday’s game, his 20th start of the season. He fired eight scoreless innings with two walks with 12 strikeouts, throwing 98 pitches.

Vierling produced the lone hit against Ober in the fourth inning, but after he reached first base, the Tigers stranded him: Colt Keith grounded into a force out, Wenceel Pérez struck out swinging, and Mark Canha struck out swinging.

The two walks: Vierling with two outs in the sixth inning and Canha with one out in the seventh inning.

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After Vierling’s walk, Keith flew out to the left fielder in foul territory. After Canha’s walk, Bligh Madris popped out to the third baseman in foul territory and Ryan Vilade grounded into a force out.

In the eighth inning, the Tigers pinch-hit right-handed Justyn-Henry Malloy (replacing left-handed Zach McKinstry) and right-handed Carson Kelly (replacing right-handed Jake Rogers), but Ober struck out both pinch-hitters.

Ober then struck out Javier Báez — for the second time in three matchups — to complete his eight-inning masterpiece.

In the ninth inning, pinch-hitter Andy Ibáñez worked a one-out walk against left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar, but the next two batters stranded him to end the game.

Kenta Maeda in relief

Maeda allowed one run on five hits and zero walks with four strikeouts across five innings, throwing 83 pitches. The 36-year-old, a former starter making his third appearance out of the bullpen, entered in the third inning and stayed in through the seventh.

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The Tigers opened with right-hander Alex Faedo in the first and second innings, followed by left-hander Easton Lucas in the second and third innings. Both pitchers were charged with one earned run, making it 2-0 in the early innings.

Maeda looked sharp throughout his five-inning performance, taking over for Lucas in the third. He worked around a two-out single from Willi Castro in the fourth inning and a leadoff double from Manuel Margot, but he couldn’t escape damage in the seventh inning.

Castro opened the seventh with a leadoff single. He then scored on Matt Wallner’s one-out double to left field. The double from Wallner put the Twins ahead, 3-0.

Jason Foley struggles

Right-hander Shelby Miller completed the eighth inning on 13 pitches, and while right-hander Jason Foley planned to complete the ninth inning, he allowed two hits and one walk — leading to a 4-0 advantage for the Twins — without recording an out.

The downfall of Foley forced the Tigers to call upon left-hander Andrew Chafin. The Tigers intentionally walked Royce Lewis to load the bases, then Ryan Jeffers made it 5-0 with a single to left field.

But Chafin responded by striking out three batters in a row to strand the bases loaded: Carlos Santana (swinging strike, slider), Margot (swinging strike, slider) and Max Kepler (swinging strike, sinker).

In the ninth, Foley threw 10 pitches and Chafin threw 17.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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