Twins 8, Blue Jays 2: G4 Ignites a Twins Onslaught

[Hans Birkeland]

Image courtesy of © John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Taj Bradley: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K (106 Pitches, 62 Strikes, 58.5%)
Home Runs: Tristan Gray (2), Kody Clemens (2)
Top 3 WPA: Gray (0.25), Matt Wallner (0.10), Josh Bell (0.07)
Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant):

In a baseball landscape in which no team (other than the Dodgers, perhaps) really looks that impressive, the Twins had mjuddled their way to 8-7 entering Sunday, after sweeping the Tigers and splitting the first two games against the AL Champion Blue Jays. Adding the competent veteran bats of Josh Bell and Victor Caratini has helped, but the starting rotation has been the team's greatest strength—despite the absence of injured ace Pablo López.

Chief among the early rotation success stories has been Taj Bradley, who was utterly dominant against Detroit on Tuesday night, striking out 10 and working into the seventh inning. His command of his 91-MPH splitter (in conjunction with his high-octane fastball) has unlocked the long-dormant upside that made him a top-50 prospect just a few years ago.

Opposing Bradley was the withered husk of Max Scherzer, who came in seeking strikeout number 3,500 for his career. Scherzer had an MRI on his right forearm after leaving his most recent start. The MRI was "clean," but that's like saying a politician over 80 passed a cognitive test. In any case, Scherzer worked a smooth first inning.

That was not the case for Bradley. Ernie Clement led off and roped a double down the left-field line, and Dalton Varsho singled past a diving Luke Keaschall, making the score 1-0 almost instantly. Bradley's command was all over the place, which led to falling behind hitters. He was lucky to get away with a few hanging breaking balls. He did bear down and got Jesús Sánchez to tap into a double play. A walk would follow before Bradley got the strikeout on an elevated fastball to Nathan Lukes to end the frame.

That was key, because Tristan Gray was due up in the second. With two runners on, Gray got a cutter to his liking and smashed it over the bullpen in right field to make the score 3-1 Twins.

At his peak, Scherzer was ruthlessly efficient, but he did tend to give up a home run or two—making him similar to fellow legends Justin Verlander and Johan Santana. That number has spiked in recent years, however, and Kody Clemens led off the third with a 417-foot moonshot off a Scherzer slider left up in the zone.

The damage wouldn't end there. Trevor Larnach and Keaschall singled, followed by a walk to Josh Bell. Matt Wallner then laced a single to right, Caratini hit a sacrifice fly, and Brooks Lee scorched a two-run double down the left-field line. All of a sudden, it was 8-1 Twins. Scherzer was done after 2 1/3 innings; the Lee double came off of reliever Joe Mantiply.

Bradley appeared a little rusty after the long layoff, falling behind every hitter he faced in the third, but got Sánchez swinging on what would have been ball four, and Kazuma Okamoto flied out harmlessly on a 3-1 fastball that ended the inning.

Bradley just couldn't land strikes with anything but his fastball. Eloy Jiménez sat on the pitch and turned around a 97-MPH heater for a sharp single in the fourth, and Andrés Giménez hit a fastball on the ground that Keaschall made a nice play on to retire the lead runner. Bradley threw fastball after fastball to the nine-hole hitter, Brandon Valenzuela, on 3-2, before throwing a non-competitive curveball high and out of the zone. On the ropes, he threw a couple of cutters in the middle of the zone to get ahead of Clement, before a curveball was laced on a line—right to Gray at third base to end the inning (a .720 expected batting average).

The Twins are in the midst of playing quite a few games in a row, which may have played into Derek Shelton allowing Bradley to pitch the fifth. Bradley fell behind Varsho 3-0 before allowing a rocket double down the right-field line to start the frame. He retired Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a splitter and struck out Sÿnchez on a challenge fastball. He then threw one of his better cutters of the day to strike out the struggling Okamoto.

His ERA won't rise much today, but this was Bradley's worst start of the year, by far. His last inning was better, as he at least got the Blue Jays hitters off his fastball a little by landing some cutters for strikes. On one hand, he held a solid Toronto lineup to one run, but on the other hand, different sequencing and more batted-ball luck could have resulted in a brutal outing given his general lack of command. But that's showbiz.

Andrew Morris made his debut in the sixth and looked good, hitting 98 MPH on his fastball; staying in the zone (for the most part); and dropping a sharp, slow curveball at 75-76 MPH that kept hitters honest—except for Giménez, who stayed on a curveball and roped it into the corner because he is not an honest man. Morris also seems to come from the Joe Ryan school of reacting to everything that happens in pretty comical ways.

He got out of the sixth, but ran into some trouble in the seventh and eighth, with spottier command and some louder contact. He also threw a lot of pitches (67) over his three innings of work.

Things to Track:

• The defense was good, with some nice plays made by Keaschall and Gray on the infield that kept innings from mushrooming.
• James Outman went hitless again. He still does not have a hit in 2026. Trading Brock Stewart for him was one of the most inconsequential (but still frustrating, somehow?) transactions in recent memory.
• Gray has 11 RBIs, second on the team to Bell, who has 12.
• Lee has been hitting well lately, but it seems a little precious, kinda like Bartolo Colón hitting that one home run. We'll see how long it lasts, but if this team somehow remains competitive, Kaelen Culpepper might be the better option, pushing Lee to a utility role. 

What’s Next: The Twins host the Red Sox as Bailey Ober (1-0, 5.27 ERA) takes on Garrett Crochet (2-1, 3.12 ERA). The Red Sox have been cold to start the year, but have tons of talent, with a lot of hitters with good track records who have yet to get going. The Twins' porous bullpen might be just the thing to warm those bats up—but so far, that pen has been surprisingly competent.

Postgame Interviews:

 

Bullpen Usage Chart:

	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	SUN	TOT
Morris	0	0	0	0	67	67
Banda	21	0	36	0	0	57
Funderburk	20	0	0	17	0	37
Acton	0	35	0	0	0	35
Topa	10	0	12	0	12	34
Sands	9	0	0	22	0	31
Rogers	0	0	30	0	0	30
Orze	0	14	0	0	0	14

 

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[bunsen82]

Say what you will,  but we have gotten wins,  and we are keeping the bullpen out of the danger zone of being overworked on a very long stretch of consecutive games.  Orze and Acton have 3+ days of rest.  My guess is those 2 will take a significant load tomorrow.  

[Werbellik]

Why is Outman still here?

[SF Twins Fan]

Morris looked pretty good.  Most of the hits against him were three hoppers or bloops that found space.  I wonder if they will send him back down since he threw 67 pitches and they could use another bullpen arm or if they will keep him up long term?

[Werbellik]

Buxton didn't play and made the same contribution to the game as OUTman did.

[IndianaTwin]

6 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Say what you will,  but we have gotten wins,  and we are keeping the bullpen out of the danger zone of being overworked on a very long stretch of consecutive games.  Orze and Acton have 3+ days of rest.  My guess is those 2 will take a significant load tomorrow.  

It’s also not unusual for 67-pitch outings in relief to lead to being sent down. Not out of ineffectiveness but in response to being effectively unavailable for three, or more likely four, days. 

[Werbellik]

5 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

It’s also not unusual for 67-pitch outings in relief to lead to being sent down. Not out of ineffectiveness but in response to being effectively unavailable for three, or more likely four, days. 

True. But if Brookes Lee was even a semi-competent shortstop Morris would have thrown roughly forty pitches. Lee is NOT a shortstop.

[GopherMike]

19 minutes ago, Werbellik said:

Why is Outman still here?

He can play CF and nobody else on this roster really can (Martin can pretend in a pinch)

That said---yeah....I think he's the most vulnerable hitter on the 40-man. There's an argument that Roden deserves a chance soon, if not now. 

I can't see anyone claiming Outman if we sent him down at this point. And I'm not sure I'd care if they did. 

[GopherMike]

I don't think baseball has settled on the actual value of a manager.

But I like Derek Shelton. 

[RpR]

[Werbellik]

1 minute ago, GopherMike said:

He can play CF and nobody else on this roster really can (Martin can pretend in a pinch)

That said---yeah....I think he's the most vulnerable hitter on the 40-man. There's an argument that Roden deserves a chance soon, if not now. 

Yes. And Erod and Jenkins and Gonzalez and so on. 

[nova_twins]

Roden is 26, there's no reason he should be in AAA because of Outman. 

Outman's PAs aren't even competitive. It's like he's a lefty specialist reliever who hasn't hit since high school. His defense isn't even that great. Move on.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Rough start for Taj and he still held them to just 1 run. Very nice to see. 

Lees bat is working for now, but that defense is not great. Needs to make more plays. 

Gray second on the team for RBIs. I was surprised when he made the team out of spring training over Kriedler, seems im finding out why. 

Another tough pitcher tomorrow. Let's get after Crochett and keep Ws coming! Go Twins!

[Linus]

43 minutes ago, Werbellik said:

True. But if Brookes Lee was even a semi-competent shortstop Morris would have thrown roughly forty pitches. Lee is NOT a shortstop.

I didn’t see the game. Fill me in on the play you are referring to. 

[Vanimal46]

One day I’m going to tell my grand kids I was alive to watch Kirby Puckett, Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, and Tristan Gray. Some of the best to ever wear a Twins uniform 

[Linus]

Looks like Taj had some control issues like “old” Taj. So helpful to be able to strike guys out to get out of it. 

[CharlieDee]

I was really pulling for Outman to get a hit today, but it didn't happen. Tough way to start a season. But to his credit, he made a fantastic catch on a ball down the line in the final Detroit game. 

[Werbellik]

There were 2 plays. The first one was a right handed batter hitting a 4 bouncer about 30 ft to the left of second base and Lee didnt get within 20 ft of it. The second was a blooper behind second base that he took a step in before retreating that he totally misread and should have caught. Very shallow.

[Western SD Fan]

36 minutes ago, Werbellik said:

Yes. And Erod and Jenkins and Gonzalez and so on. 

Roden isn't exactly tearing it up at AAA.  Even with that, I still would prefer Roden over Outman.  I lobbied for this during spring training.  As for the ERod, Jenkins, and Gonzalez, I just don't see them being brought up right away unless there is a serious injury that would allow any of them to get everyday playing time.  It would be a waste to bring them up and leave them on the bench.  I do think Roden could handle that type of assignment.  Another CF option would be Kreidler.  He has played in CF this season in St. Paul.

[Linus]

Just now, Werbellik said:

There were 2 plays. The first one was a right handed batter hitting a 4 bouncer about 30 ft to the left of second base and Lee didnt get within 20 ft of it. The second was a blooper behind second base that he took a step in before retreating that he totally misread and should have caught. Very shallow.

Thanks. These are the types of plays that don’t make the box’s ore but can really affect a game. 

[AceWrigley]

43 minutes ago, GopherMike said:

I don't think baseball has settled on the actual value of a manager.

But I like Derek Shelton. 

Yeah so far I think Shelty has done a good job. Nothing really stands out but I like that he is giving the starting pitchers some length, but that just might be to protect a suspect bullpen.

The last 2 years we started 6-10 and 5-11 after 16 games so this year feels a whole lot better. And I like that we have been scoring early in games and pounding some left-handed starters.

Taking a series in Toronto feels especially good as usually we have a hard time with them. Go Twins.

[AceWrigley]

4 minutes ago, CharlieDee said:

I was really pulling for Outman to get a hit today, but it didn't happen. Tough way to start a season. But to his credit, he made a fantastic catch on a ball down the line in the final Detroit game. 

True, that was a very fine catch in the LF corner.

[D.C Twins]

I'm not sure that positive outcomes with a ~2.0 WIP is sustainable for Taj and Morris but I'll certainly take the outcome for this game!

 

[D.C Twins]

1 hour ago, Werbellik said:

Why is Outman still here?

Why was he ever here?.... one of life's big existential questions...

[Werbellik]

1 minute ago, D.C Twins said:

Why was he ever here?.... one of life's big existential questions...

To be, or not to be.

[Werbellik]

Just now, Werbellik said:

To be, or not to be.

That is the question.

[Werbellik]

10th grade Julius Caesar. There's more but I cant remember. Wow 52 years ago hahahaha

[jmlease1]

A very nice win. Last year, this was the kind of game where Bradley gives up 6 or 7 and can't get out of the 4th, but despite really struggling with his command on the off-speed pitches, he was able to battle his way through it and not give up the killer hit (usually a homer).

Morris did fine. a little too hittable, but he did the job, which was to chew up innings. I hope they don't punt him back down to AAA, because I think he could do this role and the team could use that on the roster. Because of Ryan's long start and Morris' solid work, pretty much everyone is rested and they should be able to get through the next few games without Morris, so why not keep him around?

Good job by the offense stringing together hits despite a getaway day lineup that was missing Buxton. They weren't piling up the walks like they have been, but the two HBP helped: get on base however you can, boys.

Nice series win.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

The Jays think Scherzer has dimension?

[Doctor Gast]

I was one of the few optimistic fan around, & their performance has impressed me. Bradley has been phenomenal, Ryan has been Ryan. Abel is promising. Nice steady performances from Gray, Bell, Jeffers, Caratini, and Martin. Larkin has been good, Lee is showing good life now. Buxton, Lewis & Wallner have had some good games but are still due for a tear. If SWR was managed right, we'd have a 7-game winning streak, which could be extended to 10 now, coming to face a slumping BOS.

Concerns: A young rotation & a shaky BP which needs some high-leverage RPs.  They've been doing OK if you keep the pressure down. Again, they should bring up Prielip & see what he can do, along with having some long relief. Morris is a good start. Also, we need to improve our INF defense.