The Minnesota Twins got back in the win column against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday (MIN 10, OAK 2) thanks to big games from Manuel Margot and Jose Miranda, and a superlative effort from Bailey Ober. Margot and Miranda both had three hits and drove in three runs. Ober struck out 10 in the first complete game of his career. Saturday was his 72nd career start.
Solo homers by JJ Bleday and Tyler Soderstrom were the only blemishes on Ober's line. He was excellent and efficient otherwise. How efficient? Ober threw only 89 pitches in the complete game. 89 pitches! These days 89 pitches might get you through five innings some nights with the way hitters work the count and pitchers waste pitches trying to get chases.
Ober's effort Saturday was baseball's first nine-inning complete game with fewer than 90 pitches since 2019. There have been several seven and eight-inning complete games with fewer than 90 pitches since then -- remember seven-inning doubleheader games? -- but Ober is the first to throw fewer than 90 pitches in a nine-inning complete game in five years.
Here are the last five pitchers to throw fewer than 90 pitches in a nine-inning complete game:
| Pitcher | Date | IP | H | R | BB | K | Pitches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 19, 2019 vs. Mets | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 89 | |
Aug. 3, 2018 vs. Yankees | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 86 | |
Rick Porcello, Red Sox | Sept. 19, 2016 vs. Orioles | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 89 |
Sept. 21, 2015 vs. Tigers | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 88 | |
Sept. 9, 2014 vs. D-Backs | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 84 |
Since pitch tracking began in 1988, Ober is only the second pitcher to throw fewer than 90 pitches in a nine-inning complete game while striking out 10, joining David Cone. Cone struck out 10 Montreal Expos and threw 88 pitches in his perfect game on July 18, 1999. Ober is the fifth Twins pitcher with a sub-90 pitch complete game since 1988, per MLB.com.
Sub-100 pitch complete games are affectionately known as a "Maddux" in honor of Greg, the Hall of Famer known for his ruthless efficiency. What do we call a sub-90 pitch complete game? The leader in sub-90 pitch complete games since 1988 is, well, Greg Maddux. Maybe we should call a sub-90 pitch complete game a Super Maddux? An Ultra-Maddux?
Ober threw the league's 13th complete game of the season Saturday. We're a few days away from the halfway point, so we're on pace for 26 or so complete games in 2024. That would be the lowest total outside the 2020 pandemic season. Baseball is on pace to set a new all-time low in complete games for the third straight year. There were 36 in 2023 and 35 in 2024.
Saturday's win snapped a three-game losing streak and improved the Twins to 42-35. They are 7.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. The A's are 29-50 in 2024. They have baseball's fourth-worst record.
