Phillies 7, Twins 1: Fielding Nightmares Doom Twins

Box Score
SP: Taj Bradley - 4 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 3 K (89 pitches, 48 strikes (54% strikes))
Home Runs: Luke Keaschall
Bottom 3 WPA: Taj Bradley (-0.30), Royce Lewis (-0.14), Brooks Lee (-0.07)
Win Probability Chart

The Twins entered Thursday night's Field of Dreams Game against the Phillies looking to carry some momentum over from their series win against the Orioles. After battling back from an early deficit multiple times during Wednesday's victory, Minnesota once again found itself playing from behind almost immediately. Unfortunately, this time, the response never came.

Taj Bradley struggled to find his command from the beginning, allowing Philadelphia to build a 2-0 lead in the first inning before the Phillies extended it to 5-1 in the fourth. Luke Keaschall's seventh homer of the season briefly gave Minnesota some life, but the Twins couldn't generate enough offense against Aaron Nola and Philadelphia's bullpen. The Phillies eventually pulled away on a two-run homer from Brandon Marsh in the seventh, handing Minnesota a 7-1 loss in the return of one of the sport's niftier jewel events.

Bradley got off to about as difficult a start as possible. Kyle Schwarber opened the game with a solo homer, launching a 2-0 fastball into the corn for his league-leading 36th home run of the season. After Trea Turner popped out, Bryce Harper walked and Luis Arraez singled to put runners on the corners.

Bryson Stott followed with an RBI single, giving Philadelphia a 2-0 lead. The right-hander then walked Marsh to load the bases, but he managed to escape without allowing any additional damage. Unfortunately, it took him 32 pitches to do so, with only 16 going for strikes. He was a bit wobbly in the second, too, though he didn't allow any more runs.

Bradley did settle down in the third, working a 1-2-3 inning on just 10 pitches. But the fourth inning brought the command problems right back. He walked Marsh to begin the frame, threw a fastball over Ryan Jeffers's head and to the backstop, and eventually surrendered another homer to Schwarber.

The second homer was a high fly and a wall-scraper. It was nearly caught (and probably should have been) by Luke Keaschall, but the ball kicked off his glove and over the wall. That made it a 4-1 game. Turner doubled on what should have been a single toward the right-field line, with Keaschall being beaten a bit once again. Harper singled him home to extend Philadelphia's advantage, with a grounder that just eluded the dive of second baseman Kody Clemens.

By the time Bradley finally escaped the inning, his pitch count had reached 89. The 30-pitch fourth inning ended his night, leaving Minnesota's bullpen to handle the final five. It was a frustrating outing for Bradley, and left the Twins offense in need of a crooked number they would never quite generate.

Minnesota did have opportunities to make this a game, but Nola consistently found a way to shut down the biggest threats. The Twins got runners on base in the first inning, as Trevor Larnach singled and Jeffers reached on a swinging bunt. But Josh Bell struck out and Royce Lewis lined a ball directly at Turner to end the inning. It was the kind of ball that shows how good his process has been lately; he's hitting it on a line to the pull field consistently. This time, it just didn't generate a happy result.

Keaschall provided Minnesota's biggest offensive moment in the second. He jumped on a fastball on the inside corner and sent it beyond the left-field wall, cutting Philadelphia's lead in half with his seventh homer of the season. That gave the Twins some life, but they couldn't build on it.

The biggest missed opportunity came in the fifth inning. With two outs, Byron Buxton doubled down the third-base line (poor defense from the Phillies, this time; they've had their lineup rearranged as much as the Twins have, and Bryson Stott's inexperience at the hot corner showed). Jeffers and Bell drew back-to-back walks. Suddenly, the bases were loaded, with Lewis coming to the plate as the potential game-changing hitter. Instead, Lewis swung through a Nola curveball for the pitcher's ninth strikeout of the night.

Nola was particularly effective with that pitch throughout the game. All six of his strikeouts through the fourth inning came on his knuckle-curve, and he kept Minnesota's lineup off balance for most of the night. The Twins did manage to collect eight hits and put runners on base throughout the game, but they couldn't string enough of those opportunities together to mount a comeback.

Even in a game where very little went right offensively, Keaschall once again stood out. The sophomore accounted for three of Minnesota's better moments at the plate, starting with his solo homer in the second inning. In the sixth inning, he lined a double into left field for his second extra-base hit of the night. It was also his third time reaching base, giving him one of the better individual performances in an otherwise quiet night for Minnesota's offense. His defensive misadventures have been costly, but even great teams sometimes have to put up with a bad fielder somewhere to let their bat play. Since the beginning of May, Keaschall has been flirting with a .400 on-base percentage.

After Bradley's departure, the Twins' bullpen did a solid job of keeping Philadelphia within striking distance for a while. Travis Adams entered in the fifth and worked around a pair of singles before retiring Schwarber to end the inning. He then delivered a clean sixth, retiring Turner, Harper and Arraez in order. But the Phillies finally broke through against Adams in the seventh, when Marsh connected on that putaway homer. The pitch was a two-strike changeup that caught too much of the plate. The homer ended Adams' night, with Taylor Rogers entering to finish the inning.

From there, the Phillies' bullpen took care of business. Jonathan Bowlan, Orion Kerkering and Jhoan Duran combined to shut down the Twins over the final three innings, allowing just one hit. Minnesota did get a ninth-inning single from Kaelen Culpepper, but the game ended fittingly for the Twins. Culpepper attempted to steal second on the first pitch of Larnach's at-bat, but Duran snagged the ball and doubled him off first base for the final out.

What’s Next?
The Twins are off tomorrow as they return to Minnesota, where they’ll resume their three-game series with the Phillies on Saturday. Connor Prielipp is in line to throw for Minnesota; he’ll face fellow left-hander Jesús Luzardo. First pitch is set for 6:10 PM.

Postgame Interviews
Coming soon!

Bullpen Availability Chart