Twins 8, Angels 0: Kremer's One-Hitter Through Six, Then Ober's First Save

First-pitch strikes, then a 1-0 that became 8-0

September 20, 2026 - Anaheim - Manager Derek Shelton wanted two things from Dean Kremer before first pitch: use the splitter, and attack. Kremer threw 17 first-pitch strikes to 22 hitters, allowed one hit over six innings, and the Minnesota Twins shut out the Los Angeles Angels 8-0 in the Angels' final home game of 2026.

Sunny. 80 degrees. Wind 4 mph right to left. First pitch 1:09 p.m. Attendance 32,240. The game lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes. Minnesota had 13 hits. Los Angeles had two.

"Nostradamus type, right there," Shelton said with a laugh after the win, per the MLB recap. "We know that what makes him effective is attacking the zone. I thought Victor [Caratini] did a really good job keeping him in the zone. And then the split was good, he did a good job executing. I thought his cutter was good. And he did a good job using that to both sides of the plate."

Six innings, one hit, eight strikeouts

Kremer (4-5) faced traffic without giving in. Three walks. One hit batter. One hit. Eight strikeouts. Ninety-six pitches. The MLB recap said he generated 16 whiffs, threw 13 of 19 splitters for strikes, and punched out two on the split. Five of the strikeouts came on the fastball.

"It's one of my goals, of just being ahead and putting pressure on hitters," Kremer said, per that recap.

It has been an uneven year. The same recap said Baltimore sent him to Triple-A out of spring, recalled him in mid-April, then lost him to a right quad strain for more than two months. Minnesota acquired him before the Aug. 3 deadline. He has a 3.80 ERA in nine starts with the Twins and a 1.62 over his last three, his season ERA down from 6.50 to 4.97 since the trade.

"Just being able to move [the fastball] up and down when we want, I think makes it a lot more difficult for hitters," Kremer said. "If you're always at the top or always at the bottom, you kind of become one-dimensional. So being able to do both, I think, definitely helps."

Ryan Johnson (5-9) took the loss. Four and two-thirds. Seven hits. Three earned. Zero walks. Six strikeouts. Ninety-one pitches. The Angels never stacked a rally. Mike Trout walked, was hit by a pitch, and struck out. Zach Neto went 0-for-3. Jose Siri went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza had the only two Angel hits, both singles, one off Kremer and one off Bailey Ober.

Lee, Bell, and Roden's first homer of the year

Minnesota scored without waiting on a long ball. Walker Jenkins and Brooks Lee set the third. Josh Bell singled Jenkins home. Alan Roden singled Lee home. 2-0.

Bell singled Lee in again in the fifth. 3-0. Emmanuel Rodriguez doubled in the sixth and scored on Ben Ross's single. 4-0.

The seventh ended the argument. Sammy Peralta was still in. Lee and Bell were on. Roden hit his first homer of the season, a fly to right, three runs. 8-0. Lee, Bell, and Roden each finished with three hits. Roden drove in four. Bell drove in two. Ross stole a base. Minnesota left seven on and still scored eight.

That is a shutout built on singles until it was not. The long ball was the last swing, not the first.

Ober covers three, and a bullpen gets a night

The Twins were in a stretch of 13 games in 13 days and had played 11 innings Saturday. Ober had been scheduled to start Monday in San Francisco. Instead he threw three innings for his first career save, and the MLB recap said it was his first professional relief outing since rookie ball in 2019. One single. Three strikeouts. Thirty-one pitches.

Kremer's six and Ober's three meant nobody else had to work. Los Angeles used Peralta and Mitch Farris after Johnson. Peralta allowed the five-run burst. Farris threw 2 2/3 scoreless with two walks. The hole was already 8-0.

Minnesota is 73-83. The Angels are 60-96 and closed the home slate with two hits. Kremer may have one more start on the final homestand against Texas. Sunday was the version of a September start that looks like the pitcher Minnesota traded for.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Minnesota at 19 team fantasy points, second on the slate. Kremer had 26 pitching FP. Ober had 16. Roden had 10 hitting FP. Los Angeles finished at minus-9, last among 30 clubs.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*