Twins 6, Braves 4: Sweeping Them All the Way Back to Their House Under the Highway

[Sherry Cerny]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Taj Bradley 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K (88 pitches, 56 strikes (66% strikes)
Home Runs: -0-
Top 3 WPA: Taj Bradley (0.14); Byron Buxton (0.11); Kaelen Culpepper (0.08)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)



After what threatened to be a season-derailing weekend against the Phillies, the Twins roared back with huge wins in the first two games of the final set of their homestand. They sent de facto ace Taj Bradley to the mound on getaway day, hunting a deliciously unexpected sweep. Bradley responded with ruthless efficiency over his first two innings of work.

On the broadcast, Cory Provus mentioned that Bradley threw 16 pitches in the first two innings, the fewest to get the first six outs in any start of his career, After he'd needed three times that many offerings to get through two frames against the Phillies at the Field of Dreams, that was an especially welcome surprise.

The offense got a runner on against Atlanta's AJ Smith-Shawver,  with a walk to Victor Caratini, followed by a single from Kaelen Culpepper. Luke Keaschall squared to bunt, but rather than drag it up the third-base line or dribble it for an easy sacrifice, he popped it over Smith-Shawver's head and neatly into the undefendable area behind the pitcher's mound. The unique single loaded the bases for Byron Buxton. Returning to the lineup after a day off Tuesday, Buxton hit a ground ball toward the hole at shortstop, on which Atlanta again failed to find an out. Caratini came home with the first run of the game, though the Twins were stymied after that.

Royce Lewis gave the lineup a chance to get more runs at the bottom of the fourth with a one-out, line-drive single, a stolen base and an advancement on an error to end up on third. Alas, he was left after a strikeout and grounder ended the inning. 

Bradley continued to push through the game, but it unraveled in the fifth. He got two quick outs, but then issued a pair of walks, as his command seemed to desert him. With Taylor Rogers warming up in the bullpen, Bradley’s follies bit him. Ronald Acuña Jr, singled to left field, with the ball falling in front of Trevor Larnach and Austin Riley racing home to tie the score at 1-1. 

The bottom of the fifth was a repeat of the third, in a way, as Culpepper and Keaschall both got on base with one out. This time, Smith-Shawver walked Buxton, loading the bases, and Josh Bell took a walk, ending Smith-Shawver’s day and bringing home Culpepper to put the Twins back in front 2-1. Dylan Dodd replaced Smith-Shawver, and immediately, Kody Clemens doubled home two more runs, with a clobbered fly ball off the wall in right-center field.

Kody Funderburk came out to replace Bradley in the sixth, making his fourth appearance of the week. (He also warmed up at length on Monday night, when he didn't pitch.) Funderburk has been one of the most reliable Twins relievers as of late, making him one of the most used. That caught up to him Wednesday, though, and he left having recorded just one out and given up two runs. Tommy Nance replaced Funderburk, but balked home the tying run before extricating the team from the jam.

Atlanta reliever Victor Mederos kept Minnesota fairly quiet in the sixth, but Nanace and A.J. Minter responded by hanging a goose egg in the top of the seventh. After the stretch, Josh Bell hit a one-out rocket up the middle and turned what looked like a single into an utterly stunning hustle double. His smarts and intensity immediately paid off, too.

Dylan Lee came out to face Clemens, but the left-on-left matchup didn't tilt Atlanta's way. Clemens dunked an RBI single down the right-field line, untying the game and giving the Twins a surge of momentum. The Braves walked Ryan Jeffers, but Brooks Lee made them pay for their tactic with another RBI single, providing some insurance.

Jeff Hoffman worked in and out of trouble in the top of the eighth. With one out and after a nine-pitch at-bat with a runner in scoring position, Mauricio Dubón was rules to have gone around on a check-swing—by the home-plate umpire. Dubón was furious that Carlos Torres hadn't appealed for help at first base, rather than ringing him up, and argued vociferously. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss was ejected for his own argument. When the dust cleared, though, Hoffman finished the frame with another strikeout to defuse the tension. Yoendrys Gómez came out for the ninth inning, working a third day in a row, but it proved no sweat.

On to San Diego! By the time the Twins play again, they could very well be officially in playoff position.

What’s Next?
The Twins get a day off to travel to San Diego, where they'll take on the Padres Friday night. Connor Prielipp (3-6; 3.46 ERA) will start the series against a pitcher TBD. The game starts at 8:40 pm CST.

Postgame Interviews 

Bullpen Availability Chart

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[Aggies7]

Is Gomez the single greatest (or most effective is probably the better term) one year closer pickup in twins history?

[DJL44]

11 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

Is Gomez the single greatest (or most effective is probably the better term) one year closer pickup in twins history?

Jeff Reardon was pretty good

[1985Fan]

I sure hope they can keep the winning streak going. Talk about ying and yang…

They played poor defense and let a lot of scoring opportunities go to waste (15 lob), but still won the game. Good fortune. Tomorrow off day comes at a good time to let the BP rest. 
 

Padres are hot, so hope the Twins get good pitching, defense, and hot hitting to win a series on the road. 

[Aggies7]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Jeff Reardon was pretty good

I did think about him. I wonder if Gómez would be brought back for more than one season? I assume yes at this point, but I’m not familiar with the contractual stuff 

[MikeNC]

I first noticed in 2023 that the Twins were successfully revamping castoff pitchers.  This was new, for so long Twins were good hit, no pitch team-except for 2 great starters (twice) that won them WS.  Sure enough Pete Maki joined the team in summer of 2022.  I think the guy is a pitching genius.

[ashbury]

Derek explained Alex Jackson's presence on the roster, presumably to the satisfaction of all: this allowed the manager to pinch-hit Jeffers and provoke an IBB after which he came right back out of the game in favor of a pinch-runner, allowing Brooks Lee to come up and drive home the insurance run. 

How many teams have an Alex Jackson of their own who can do all that for them?

 

🙃

[TheLeviathan]

I said they had to go 3-3 against the Braves and Padres to be not-dead.  Well....we're officially not dead.

I don't think this team is any good, but they fight.  You can't deny that.

[AceWrigley]

22 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Jeff Reardon was pretty good

I always called him Jeff Rearend.  😎

[AceWrigley]

So I wonder how many pounds of golf equipment they have to send to San Diego?

[AceWrigley]

This team is a rollercoaster ride . . . hang on to your butts.

[USAFChief]

[Riverbrian]

After the Phillies series. Twins Fans said "See they can't beat the good teams". 

After the Braves Series. Braves Fans said "You can't get swept by Minnesota". 

This is baseball... It's been this way for years. Our Twins just played a major role in tightening up that NL East all by themselves. 

Put the uniform on and play ball because anybody can beat anybody on any given night. 

 

[DJL44]

30 minutes ago, Aggies7 said:

I did think about him. I wonder if Gómez would be brought back for more than one season? I assume yes at this point, but I’m not familiar with the contractual stuff 

The Twins have the rights to Gomez for several more seasons 

[RpR]

[DJL44]

25 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Derek explained Alex Jackson's presence on the roster, presumably to the satisfaction of all: this allowed the manager to pinch-hit Jeffers and provoke an IBB after which he came right back out of the game in favor of a pinch-runner, allowing Brooks Lee to come up and drive home the insurance run. 

How many teams have an Alex Jackson of their own who can do all that for them?

🙃

The Alex Jackson win streak continues. They can’t put him in a game until they lose.

[AceWrigley]

1 minute ago, DJL44 said:

The Alex Jackson win streak continues. They can’t put him in a game until they lose.

Maybe they need to get him a summer sausage hat or something.

I wonder if they've started to rub his head before games for good luck.

[HarmonK03]

I love the fight in this team, they don't give up.

Bradley needs to give us more than 5 innings if he is going to considered a top of the rotation arm.  He still has too many times where he just loses control.  This has always been his issue and hopefully he can find the solution because when he is on he can be very dominating.

[USAFChief]

30 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The Twins have the rights to Gomez for several more seasons 

Several. 

Gomez can be a FA in 2032.

[Shaitan]

34 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The Alex Jackson win streak continues. They can’t put him in a game until they lose.

That hasn't been a problem so far in 2026.

[LastOnePicked]

I've been on rollercoasters that have had fewer downs and ups than this ballclub. Good gosh.

The only consistent so far is that the harder I am in my critiques of them and the more sure I am of their utter demise in the standings, the more they starting punching their way back into the hunt.

So, I will say this again: THIS TEAM STINKS AND WILL WIN NOTHING! NOTHING, I TELL YOU!!!

[HarmonK03]

9 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

That hasn't been a problem so far in 2026.

He probably won't see the field again until spring training.

[DocBauer]

I'm hoping what I say next won't earn me my first ever negative points from TD. But while the Twins have been about as bad as every other team against the NL this season, what pisses me off was we held our own against the Dodgers and SHOULD have won at least one game. 

We gave the Brewers everything they could handle and basically BLEW a chance for a series win there.

For whatever reason, the Phillies had our number. And that doesn't excuse poor performances from the entire team.

But for some crazy reason, the arms and bats suddenly woke up against Atlanta, and we got a sweep. 

Funderburk's final numbers weren't indicative of how how he pitched. 

This was a much needed win. The Padres are next. Other than a Giants series, the rest of the season is against the Yankees and the ALC, if IRC. That puts the final record for this season and any playoff options squarely in their hands. And that's how it should be.

And I'm ROOTING for the Twins to claim that last playoff spot and HOPING like hell they might finish strong enough to actually win the ALC.!

But I'm also waiting and wondering why the Twins aren't letting Jenkins loose. I can only believe it's because they are waiting to bring Rodriguez up soon.