CHICAGO (Interstat) — Bailey Ober pitched 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball and Ryan Jeffers hit a three-run homer as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2 on Friday at Wrigley Field before 39,855 fans in 2 hours, 48 minutes. The Cubs struck first in the bottom of the first when Michael Busch singled to right, driving in Pete Crow-Armstrong. Minnesota answered in the third with four runs. Trevor Larnach singled home Luke Keaschall, and Jeffers followed with his eighth homer, a drive to left-center that scored Tristan Gray and Larnach. The Twins added a run in the seventh on Ryan Kreidler’s single. Ober (7-3) allowed five hits, walked none and struck out seven. Colin Rea (7-6) took the loss, surrendering five hits and three earned runs over six innings with six strikeouts. Yoendrys Gómez earned his 12th save with a perfect ninth. Minnesota evened its record at 49-49; Chicago dropped to 54-43. The teams meet again Saturday.

CHICAGO (Interstat) — Bailey Ober pitched five and one-third innings of five-hit ball and Ryan Jeffers homered in a four-run third inning as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-2 on Friday at Wrigley Field in front of 39,855 fans. The game lasted 2 hours 48 minutes. Ober improved to 7-3 on the season, striking out seven while allowing two earned runs. He worked through early trouble in the first inning when the Cubs scored a run, then settled in to retire eight straight batters at one point. Yoendrys Gómez earned his 12th save with a perfect ninth inning, striking out one. The Twins improved to 49-49, while the Cubs dropped to 54-43. Minnesota struck first in the top of the third against Cubs starter Colin Rea. Luke Keaschall led off with a soft single to shortstop. Tristan Gray reached on a fielder’s choice that saw Keaschall advance to third on a throwing error by first baseman Michael Busch. Trevor Larnach then singled to left field, scoring Keaschall to tie the game at 1. Jeffers followed by launching an 0-1 pitch to left-center field for his eighth home run of the season, driving in Gray and Larnach to give the Twins a 4-1 lead. The three-run blast was the pivotal moment of the game, as Minnesota never trailed again. Rea allowed five hits and three earned runs over six innings, striking out six and walking two. He fell to 7-6. The Cubs had opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki each walked to start the inning. Michael Busch then lined a single to right field, scoring Crow-Armstrong and sending Suzuki to third. But Ober induced a strikeout of Alex Bregman and then got Ian Happ to ground into a double play to limit the damage to one run. Chicago threatened again in the second when Nico Hoerner singled and Michael Conforto followed with a single, putting runners at first and third with one out. But Ober struck out Carson Kelly and Dansby Swanson grounded into a double play to end the inning. Ober’s command sharpened after that. He retired the side in order in the third, striking out the heart of the Cubs order — Crow-Armstrong, Suzuki and Busch. The Cubs finally got to Ober again in the sixth. Suzuki led off with a double to left field. Busch grounded out to shortstop, moving Suzuki to third. Alex Bregman walked, and Ian Happ singled to right, loading the bases for the Cubs with one out. Ober was lifted after 5 1/3 innings, having thrown 96 pitches. Reliever Tommy Nance entered and got Nico Hoerner to ground into a force out at second, allowing Bregman to score on the play and cutting the Twins lead to 4-2. Michael Conforto then flied out to center to end the inning. Nance worked one and one-third innings, allowing one hit and no runs with one strikeout. Taylor Rogers recorded the final out of the sixth on one pitch, then Andrew Morris threw a scoreless seventh and eighth, allowing no hits. Minnesota added an insurance run in the seventh against Cubs reliever Gavin Hollowell. Austin Martin and Luke Keaschall both walked to start the inning. Ryan Kreidler then singled to left field, scoring Martin to make it 5-2. The Twins left runners at first and third when Larnach lined out, Jeffers struck out and Josh Bell struck out. The Cubs had one more chance in the ninth against Gómez. Ian Happ walked to lead off the inning. Nico Hoerner then grounded into a force out, with Happ erased at second. After a successful challenge by the Cubs overturned a call at first base, Hoerner was safe, but the play still resulted in an out. Michael Conforto struck out and Carson Kelly flied out to center to end the game. Minnesota outhit the Cubs 7-6. Jeffers finished 1-for-4 with the home run and three RBIs. Keaschall had two hits and scored twice. For the Cubs, Suzuki had a double and a walk, and Busch drove in a run. Ober’s start continued a strong stretch for the Twins right-hander. In his previous outing July 9 against Cleveland, he allowed one earned run over five innings in a no-decision. He has now struck out at least five batters in three of his last four starts. The Twins have won three of their last four games, including a series win over the Los Angeles Angels before the All-Star break. The Cubs had won four of their last five entering the game, including a series sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. The Interstat game simulator had projected a final score of Twins 7, Cubs 6. The Interstat ELO system gave the Cubs a 62.80 percent probability to win. Chicago was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of seven runs scored went over the over/under line of 10.

MLB PREVIEW CHICAGO (Interstat) — The Minnesota Twins begin a pivotal three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Friday at Wrigley Field, with both teams heading in opposite directions. Minnesota (48-49) arrives having won two of three against the Los Angeles Angels, including a 4-2 victory Sunday. Right-hander Bailey Ober (6-3) or right-hander Colin Rea (7-5) is scheduled to start for the Twins. The Cubs (54-42) are 7-2 in their past nine games after taking two of three at Cincinnati. Chicago won Sunday’s series finale 8-4 behind Alex Bregman’s 3-for-5, four-RBI performance. Players to watch Twins right-hander Taj Bradley has been electric of late. The 25-year-old is 5-0 over his past five starts with a 2.03 ERA, striking out 38 over 31 innings. He threw seven innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts Sunday against the Angels. Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman is 9-for-33 (.273) with two homers and 11 RBIs in his past 10 games, though he was hitless in three of his last four contests. Recent form Minnesota won four of its final six games before the break, with Taj Bradley earning the win Sunday. Trevor Larnach went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in that game. The Cubs have been prolific at the plate, scoring eight runs three times in their past seven games. Left-hander Matthew Boyd earned Sunday’s win, allowing four runs over 6 1/3 innings. Betting line The Cubs are -1.5 favorites, with an over/under of 10. Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-6 Twins victory. Looking ahead The series continues Saturday and Sunday before Minnesota travels to Cleveland for a four-game set starting Monday. The Cubs host Detroit for a three-game series beginning Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CT.