Bailey Ober didn’t earn the win on Saturday. He threw too many pitches early and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. But it was a win, for Ober and the Twins. Ober gave up a leadoff home run to Jose Altuve, then worked in and out of trouble before handing the game to a stellar bullpen as th e Twins beat Houston, 6-1, at Target Field. Jose Miranda hit a three-run home run, and Matt Wallner added a run-scoring double in a six-run fourth inning that chased Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti (1-1). “The pitch count got too high, a lot of deep counts,” Ober said. “That was kind of like my only big takeaway, just try to end some at-bats a little earlier so I can go deep into the game and help the bullpen out.” Behind the scenes, though, Ober had been trying to gut out a terrible bout of the flu that, he said, caused him to lose 8 pounds in one day. He was sick during his first start, a nine-run disaster against the White Sox in Chicago, and just started feeling better a couple of days ago. Yeah, he threw 84 pitches in four innings, and gave up three hits and walked a pair. But Ober worked out of trouble with the help of five strikeouts to hand the bullpen a one-run deficit in the fifth. Louie Varland, Cole Sands (1-0), Jorge Alcala, Justin Topa and Jhoan Duran each threw a scoreless inning to nail down the win for the Twins (3-5). Ober, manager Rocco Baldelli said, “Found a way to do it.” “(The Astros) start the game on top, but it really didn’t affect him at all,” Baldelli said. “He continued to work and got us through what he could get us through today, and did a pretty nice job. And the bullpen did a great job, too.” Miranda’s home run, his first of the young season, was the centerpiece of a six-run inning that chased Arrighetti after the right-hander had gotten two outs. Trevor Larnach (walk) and Edouard Julien (fielder’s choice) were on base, but Arrighetti quickly went up 0-2 on Miranda. After taking two four-seam fastballs for balls, Miranda reached down to get a 78 mph curveball and sent it into the left field bleachers. The third baseman clapped his hands and looked at the Twins dugout before rounding the bases. “A lot of emotions,” Miranda said. “It was a tough at-bat. He got me 0-2 quick, so I was battling. He made two good pitches after that, and then he threw the sweeper in. I executed my plan, because I was kinda looking for that, and he threw it and I got it. “Obviously, a homer with two men on base, tie game, it felt good.” Next batter Christian Vazquez hustled out a double, spelling the end for Arrighetti, who was charged with five runs on three hits and three walks in 4⅔ innings. Wallner followed with his run-scoring double. The inning started when Byron Buxton was hit on his left hand by a pitch. He stayed in the game, stole second base, and hustled home when Ty France’s single to the left-field gap was mishandled to tie the game, 1-1. Buxton, playing center field, stayed in the game and took two more at-bats. “It’s fun, obviously, to be able to start something to get that inning going, is fun,” Buxton said. “That’s kind of what I want to do. Except get hit by a pitch, but it’s part of it.” Altuve, who started the game with a home run off Ober into the shallow seats of the left field bleachers, went 3 for 5 for Houston. ...read more read less