BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (Interstat) — Bailey Ober pitched six strong innings and the Minnesota Twins broke open a close game with three runs in the eighth inning, fueled by two Toronto errors, to beat the Blue Jays 7-1 on Thursday night at Target Field.

Ober allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts over six innings to earn his third win of the season. The right-hander was sharp from the start, retiring the side in order in the second and third innings after the Blue Jays had taken an early lead. Ober worked around a solo home run by Daulton Varsho in the fourth and kept Toronto off the board the rest of his outing. He threw 83 pitches and allowed only one walk.

Byron Buxton led the Twins offense with three hits, including a double and his eighth home run of the season. Ryan Jeffers homered for the second straight game, a two-run shot in the fourth that put Minnesota ahead. The Twins improved to 14-18 while the Blue Jays fell to 14-17.

Toronto scored its only run in the top of the fourth inning when Varsho hit a solo home run to right field, his fourth of the season. That gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead. But the Twins answered immediately in the bottom half. Trevor Larnach walked and Jeffers followed by driving a 1-0 pitch from Kevin Gausman over the left-center field wall for a two-run homer, making it 2-1 Minnesota.

The game remained tight until the sixth inning. Buxton led off with a solo home run to left-center field, his eighth, padding the Twins lead to 3-1. After Larnach walked, Gausman struck out Jeffers but then allowed a groundout that moved Larnach to third. Austin Martin followed with a single to center field that scored Larnach, extending the margin to 4-1.

Gausman took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two. The veteran right-hander fell to 2-2 on the season.

The decisive moment came in the eighth inning. With the Twins leading 4-1, Buxton led off with a single off reliever Joe Mantiply. Larnach struck out, but Jeffers reached on a fielder’s choice that loaded the bases after a throwing error by third baseman Kazuma Okamoto allowed Buxton to advance to third. Josh Bell then singled sharply to left field, scoring Buxton and Jeffers. Shortstop Andrés Giménez made a throwing error on the play that allowed both runners to score, giving the Twins a 6-1 lead. Bell moved to second on the error. Austin Martin walked, Kody Clemens walked, and Luke Keaschall followed with a sacrifice fly to left field that plated Bell for the final run of the inning.

Tommy Nance pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for Toronto, striking out three. Andrew Morris worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings for Minnesota, allowing one hit. Justin Topa threw a scoreless eighth, and Anthony Banda tossed a scoreless ninth.

Varsho finished 1-for-4 with the home run and an RBI. George Springer had two hits for Toronto, including a single in the first inning. Ernie Clement singled in the seventh and Brandon Valenzuela added a single later in that inning, but the Blue Jays could not push across additional runs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled in the eighth.

The Blue Jays left five runners on base and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. The Twins capitalized on two Toronto errors, both coming in the eighth inning, and finished with six hits.

Minnesota snapped a three-game losing streak with the win. Toronto had won three of its previous four games, including an 8-1 victory over Boston on Wednesday.

The Twins and Blue Jays continue their four-game series Friday at Target Field. Minnesota will send its starter to the mound against Toronto’s pitcher as both teams look to gain ground in the early season standings.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Toronto 6, Minnesota 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Toronto a 59.10 percent probability to win. The Blue Jays were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5.