Twins 3, Giants 2: Taj Bradley's 200th Strikeout, Young Core Spark Twins to Victory

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Taj Bradley 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K (104 pitches, 67 strikes (64%))
Home Runs: Walker Jenkins (4)
Top 3 WPA: Bradley (0.20), Luke Keaschall (0.18), Andrew Morris (0.14)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

There have been fewer bright spots than fans hoped for in the 2026 Twins season, but Taj Bradley is definitely one of them. The young righty came into his last start of the season with career bests in wins, ERA, strikeouts—you name it. Opposing him was young Giants righty Anthony Molina, making only his seventh career start but bringing a stingy 1.03 WHIP to the bump. On paper, we were set for a pitchers' duel. The game lived up to the billing gorgeously.

Bradley Makes Some History, and Then Gets Robbed

In the bottom of the first, Bradley became just the 10th Twins pitcher to notch 200 strikeouts in a season when he enticed leadoff man Drew Gilbert to check-swing on a pitch outside the zone. 

Unfortunately, in the bottom of the second inning, Bradley should have had No. 201, but automated check-swings are still a year away. Scott Bandura was given new life, instead. Bandura singled, which put runners on the corners with only one out. Drew Cavanaugh bunted in the first run of the game to make that missed call sting, as the Giants went up 1-0.

From Flailing to Flying

In Monday's series opener, the Twins mustered only four hits against a Giants squad that ranks near the bottom in terms of team ERA. On Tuesday night, the bats went hitless through three innings against Molina. Brooks Lee finally broke that goose egg open with a single in the top of the fourth, but Molina kept cruising until the top of the sixth. Ryan Kreidler laced a single with one out, and another bright spot in the Twins season kept on shining bright, as Luke Keaschall dented the 399 sign on the left-center-field wall for a game-tying triple.

Next up was the aforementioned Lee, who poked a single through the drawn-in infield to put Minnesota on top, 2-1.

Youth Movement Keeps Moving

While strikeout number 201 took an inning longer than it should have for Bradley, he kept the Giants on lockdown with five more punchies through six stellar innings. That made 205 strikeouts, and hopefully, he'd also collect his 12th win. That would depend on his young teammates' ability to keep scoring runs, and in the top of the seventh, it was Captain America's turn to shine. Walker Jenkins's fourth homer of the year continued his torrid pace on this road trip and put the Twins up 3-1.

Bullpen Dims the Room

One of the dim spots of the 2026 season, at least since the All-Star break, has been the bullpen's inability to hold leads. Kody Funderburk followed Bradley's awesome outing by only getting one out and leaving runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh. Andrew Morris got the call to clean up Funderburk's mess, and Keaschall had his teammate's back. He made a fine sliding catch and started a 9-3-6 double play to end the threat.

Morris got the first out of the eighth, as well, before losing Victor Bericoto to a walk. A.J. Minter was next man up, and again, Keaschall slid his way into a solid catch to save an extra-base hit. Bo Davidson decided to direct the next Minter pitch away from Keaschall, shooting a single into the left-field gap. Davidson quickly took second, too, as teams continue to run wild on the Twins battery (no matter who's at either end thereof). With the tying run at second base, Minter got ahead of Shay Whitcomb, only to see the youngster work the count full. Victor Caratini typed in a 3-2 changeup, and Whitcomb whiffed to keep the Twins in the lead for one more inning.

One of the brightest spots in the season has been Yoendrys Gómez. As the Twins looked to close the game in the ninth, though, the well-rested but recently cratering Gomez was not called upon. Instead, Jeff Hoffman looked to become the 15th Twin to notch a save. Hoffman walked the leadoff man, Brett Harris, on five pitches. Seriously. Then he hit Andrew Knizner on the very next pitch. Seriously. Christian Koss bunted the runners over, and Hoffman almost got Kody Clemens killed with a throw up the line. In a season of bright nights and dark weeks, the stage was set for another epic bullpen collapse. Osleivis Basabe was the batter, the count ran full, and Hoffman missed the inside corner by 0.2 inches to load the bases.

Jonah Cox ripped a 10.2.5-MPH rocket over Lee's head, and Lee got it in his glove, only to have it pop free behind him. He alertly scrambled to pick up the ball and touch third base for the second out of the inning, but a run did score to make it 3-2. Basabe pulled something in his mad dash to second, and needed to be replaced as a baserunner. Therefore, Marcelo Mayer became the new tying run as Hoffman faced Bericoto with the game in the balance. Hoffman's slider decided to click back into place just in time, as Bericoto went down flailing to lock down the victory for Bradley and the Twins.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to take their last road series of the season in a Wednesday matinee against the Giants. Twins rookie LHP Connor Prielipp (6-7, 4.94 ERA) will start his last game of the season in hopes of evening out his record after a bright start to his career. Fellow rookie LHP Cesar Perdomo (0-1, 3.72 ERA) will get the start for San Francisco, after failing to complete five innings in each of his last two starts. First pitch is scheduled for 2:45 PM CDT.

Postgame Interviews

 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	FRI	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	TOT
Rogers	0	26	0	25	0	51
Hoffman	0	19	0	0	24	43
Morris	0	15	0	0	19	34
Adams	10	0	0	20	0	30
Gomez	0	24	0	0	0	24
Nance	23	0	0	0	0	23
Minter	0	8	0	0	9	17
Funderburk	0	2	0	0	13	15

 

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[Permanent Twins Fan]

Really nice to see Taj finish a very strong season on a high note. 205 strikeouts is nothing to sneeze at. By strikeouts alone, he is a top 10 starter in baseball. I think the Twins definitely won that trade. The young guys were the ones who were contributing offensively today for the Twins. Jenkins, Keaschall, and Lee are three of the cornerstones of this offense for next year and they all drove in runs today. Brooks Lee is making that statline look pretty good and is riding a 7 game hit streak with Jenkins on a 6 game one as well. 

[Parfigliano]

Wonder if Sabato plays tomorrow

[glunn]

I like the way this game recap was written -- it kept me engaged. Nice work.

[Blyleven2011]

I see a pattern here with this team , they win one and lose one , no long winning streaks this season , they may not end the season as a 500 team but close which is better than expected …

let’s win the last 4 game and have a 5 game winning streak to end with a positive  …

nice one run win , let’s win another …

[Patzky]

That was satisfying, reading the play by play summary. Odd how Hoffman suffered the same breakdowns in the ninth that Gomez does, while being virtually untouchable while pitching the seventh and eighth innings lately. 

Walker HR, Taj very successful season, Keaschall and Lee did just enough on offense and Keaschall and Kreidler providing good defense. Satisfying!

 

[jmlease1]

Taj has had a very nice season. He still has these stretches where he's throwing uncompetitive pitches as his control wobbles, but he's done a pretty good job of pulling it back together when it happens. If he can refine that a little more, figure out a way to get into his groove at the start of a game rather than needing an inning to settle in, he'll be really dangerous. The stuff is nasty, and you have to love his ability to get deeper into games. Having starting pitching that can go 6 or 7 innings is quite valuable and Taj has shown he can do that. 18 starts this season where he went at least 6, Game Score over 60 in 16 starts. That's a front-line starter to me.

SF used their entire bench last night; only 2 players finished last night's game with an OPS over .700; 6 of them have an OPS under .600. That is not a good lineup.

[MeleMouth]

At one point, I felt like Bradley was scuffling, despite only have given up three hits and two walks at that point, so I looked at his ball-strike count, and it was approximately 28 balls and 53 strikes, which is a very good 65%. So congrats to Bradley, who has looked like a good pick-up at last year's fire sale. 

[mikelink45]

Hats off to Keaschall who should have been the top WPA as he made two crucial and difficult catches to keep the RP from blowing it.  No more complaining about his fielding.  Experience is making a difference.

[Old Twins Hat]

9 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Hats off to Keaschall who should have been the top WPA as he made two crucial and difficult catches to keep the RP from blowing it.  No more complaining about his fielding.  Experience is making a difference.

Yeah, Keaschall is a gamer.  He just is.  His arm ain't great but his strength is going to be running down fly balls, making diving catches and generally taking solid routes.  Don't look for a lot of outfield assists, unless you include getting pitchers out of innings by making tough catches. 

He's a sparkplug.  And, I'm trying to remember the last one of those in recent Twins' outfield history....

[Jack Pine]

Right now, it has been a fun team to watch.  

[wesnewy]

I thought walkers homer was going in the drink!

[twinfan]

Bradley has been a savior this season. Hopefully he can be similar next year. Nice to see Jenkins coming around. But this is the Giants who are having a horrible (for them) season. Let's see what the Twins will do for next year. Many decisions regarding the pitching and DH will have to be made.

[Saxophone Joe]

11 minutes ago, wesnewy said:

I thought walkers homer was going in the drink!

I couldn't believe Denard Span is 6th among all Giants for homers into McCovey Cove. Only played two years there, too. 

[LastOnePicked]

Fun win, but a 3-2 nailbiter against a team that will lose close to 100 games - all with our best starter, best reliever and young core in the game - doesn't exactly fill me with championship hope next season.

Based on these two series, I'd say we're just about as good as the Angels and Giants. Which isn't great company.

[laloesch]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

Hats off to Keaschall who should have been the top WPA as he made two crucial and difficult catches to keep the RP from blowing it.  No more complaining about his fielding.  Experience is making a difference.

I think in time Keaschall will be fine in the outfield.  He just needs more fielding experience.  Moving from 2nd base to the outfield is a big shift for any players.  He's going through trial by fire.  I'm not worried about it as the kid is proactive and willing to do what it takes to get better.  I'd really like to see the Twins call up Marek Houston sometime in 2027 (if there is a season).   

A lineup that features Jenkins, Culpepper, Houston, Rodriquez, and whatever Buxton can give them (he will never play more than 100ish games).  Not bad.  If they can just get a big bat for 1st base, things will be looking up. 

It's really a shame they didn't get anything for Jeffers.  His bat will be sorely missed, but the prospects he could have netted in a trade will be missed more, long term. 

Taj has been awesome this season and Connor Prielepp has shown he's got good stuff too.  Add Abel and Lopez back into the mix you've got a solid rotation.  Rojas also looked good at times.  The key is, what happens to Ryan.  The Twins need to throw in and sign him to an extension.  He's worth overpaying to keep. 

[Milwaukee-Jeff]

43 minutes ago, wesnewy said:

I thought walkers homer was going in the drink!

Watching Walker's swing reminded me of Joe Mauer. I'm glad he seems to be figuring out MLB pitching!

[Saxophone Joe]

33 minutes ago, laloesch said:

 The Twins need to throw in and sign him to an extension.  He's worth overpaying to keep. 

Do they though? I dunno, seems like the Experience has to be better to justify a huge contract imo. I know All-Star pitchers don't grow on trees...just kinda tired of the Ryan drama. And the second half drop off is a real issue. Plus, pretty sure he wants to be on the West Coast. 

Instead, I'm hoping they extend Pablo and keep him a Twin until he retires. 

[Old Twins Hat]

47 minutes ago, Milwaukee-Jeff said:

Watching Walker's swing reminded me of Joe Mauer. I'm glad he seems to be figuring out MLB pitching!

Yeah, Walker's swing is smooth, but tell you what:  never saw Mauer ripping balls down the right field line.

Did Mauer ever hit the RF foul pole?  Ever?

[jmlease1]

53 minutes ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Yeah, Walker's swing is smooth, but tell you what:  never saw Mauer ripping balls down the right field line.

Did Mauer ever hit the RF foul pole?  Ever?

He didn't. But can we not go down that road?

If Jenkins ends up hitting like Mauer he'll be a Hall of Famer, regardless of where the ball goes.

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Yeah, Keaschall is a gamer.  He just is.  His arm ain't great but his strength is going to be running down fly balls, making diving catches and generally taking solid routes.  Don't look for a lot of outfield assists, unless you include getting pitchers out of innings by making tough catches. 

He's a sparkplug.  And, I'm trying to remember the last one of those in recent Twins' outfield history....

Shannon Stewart

[SE23]

Taj is our ace heading into the spring. If we slot Pablo #2 and Ryan #3, we stack up pretty good in the Central Division. We even have some serviceable depth behind them! I believe Clemens is better in a utility/bench role than as a starter. So we ought to upgrade at 2B. I think you know where I'm going with this...

[RpR]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Hats off to Keaschall who should have been the top WPA as he made two crucial and difficult catches to keep the RP from blowing it.  No more complaining about his fielding.  Experience is making a difference.

He also almost threw the ball he caught into never-never land.

Lewis saved the day.

[Nashvilletwin]

12 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

Wonder if Sabato plays tomorrow

Nothing against Lewis, but if I never see him take another AB as a Twin, I wouldn’t be sad.

[mikelink45]

7 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

Yeah, Keaschall is a gamer.  He just is.  His arm ain't great but his strength is going to be running down fly balls, making diving catches and generally taking solid routes.  Don't look for a lot of outfield assists, unless you include getting pitchers out of innings by making tough catches. 

He's a sparkplug.  And, I'm trying to remember the last one of those in recent Twins' outfield history....

Bob Allison