Ryan Jeffers walked into the clubhouse on Friday carrying two bags, excited to show off the contents of each to anyone who wanted to see.

In one, there was a helmet painted by Todd Miska, who is well-known for his work on NHL goalie masks, featuring the marks of the Twins’ new City Connect jerseys.

There is the outline of Lake Minnetonka, the Twins’ new logo of the state, and a loon, as well as the Minneapolis skyline and other little details, like his No. 27, painted in the Twins’ City Connect font.

The other, also painted by Miska, features a sunset over Lake Harriet and some more personal touches to Jeffers. The back of the helmet bears the names of his wife, Lexi, and young daughter, Harper, as well as the outline of his state of North Carolina, the area code for both his hometown and current residence, and the logo of his college, North Carolina-Wilmington.

“Those are pretty sweet,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Those are more like artwork.”

Because of the rainout on Saturday, Jeffers had to wait an extra day to wear his new gear in a game,. But he was finally able to show it off on Sunday in the first game of the doubleheader.

“I kind of gave (Miska) some ideas, some of the themes of the City Connect jerseys, and kind of let him run with it,” Jeffers said. “We didn’t really have a ton of input, and I didn’t really want a ton of input. It’s kind of, ‘Hey, these are the themes of the jerseys, and these are some of the logos. Do what you think.’ And he came back with some really awesome pieces.”

Jeffers said they first started talking about the idea during spring training and were able to get Major League Baseball’s approval to go ahead and get them crafted.

“They’re cool,” Jeffers said. “They’re really cool.”

Ober shines

The last pitch Bailey Ober threw on Sunday wound up beyond the wall in left field. But that was really the only blemish for Ober, who had his strongest start in quite some time in the first game of the doubleheader, throwing 6⅓ innings of one-run ball.

The starter was scoreless into the seventh inning and finished the day having given up just that run on six hits while striking out eight.

“I’ve been feeling really good the last few weeks, and it just kind of came down to being able to execute,” Ober said. “I feel like I was able to today and just put stuff where I wanted a little bit more, get ahead and put guys away.”

Briefly

The Twins added starting pitcher Louie Varland to the roster on Sunday to serve as the 27th man for the doubleheader. … The Twins will have Monday off before playing host to the Tampa Bay Rays for three games as the longest homestand of their season continues. … Max Kepler, hit by a pitch on the elbow on Friday, returned to the lineup for the second game on Sunday.

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