Twins Video
Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Taj Bradley: 5 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (88 pitches, 54 Strikes, 61.4%)
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Bradley (-.364), Luke Keaschall (-.035), Kody Clemens (-.033)
Win Probability Chart (Via FanGraphs):
It could have been an exciting weekend—almost as exciting as games could be, for a team that has gone in the tank. The Twins won a thriller on Friday, then had the debuts of Mick Abel and Taj Bradley to look forward to. Well, Abel got obliterated yesterday, and today, Bradley was even worse, at least at the start.
He began by allowing a base hit to Mike Tauchman, followed by singles to Miguel Vargas and Kyle Teel, the latter scoring the game's first run. Eventually, Edgar Quero singled in two more, and there were no silver linings. Bradley couldn't locate his fastball and was hesitant to throw his splitter, which the White Sox hitters picked up on right away. His fastball has good velocity, but it's hittable, especially when the hitter knows it's coming. Bradley tried emphasizing his curveball a little more, but he missed the zone with it more times than not, and only got one swing and miss.
Meanwhile, Twins hitters were up against Yoendrys Gomez, a journeyman swingman on his third team of the year. He looked good, though, sitting in the mid- to high 90s with a moving fastball. The Twins really had no answer for him, outside of a Trevor Larnach double in the first and an Austin Martin lineout in the fifth on which Luis Robert Jr. made a great diving play deep in the left-center gap.
The bottom of the second inning began lineout-single-walk-single for Bradley, before the impressive rookie Colson Montgomery jumped all over a fastball on the inner half of the plate, making it a 7-0 game for what felt like the 13th game in a row.
The third began with a single to Andrew Benintendi, but Bradley was bailed out with a double play off the bat of the next hitter, Chase Meidroth. He got out of that inning unscathed, and actually pitched a decent fourth inning, giving up fairly hard contact but retiring Tauchman, Vargas and Teel in order. His fastball started burning more edges, and he emphasized his secondary pitches early in counts, getting some weak contact and efficient outs. After throwing over 50 pitches in the first two innings, he finished the fifth at just 88 total.
It's historically been hard to read a lot into a starting pitcher's performance against the White Sox, but they are getting a little more fun, with Teel, Quero, Vargas and Montgomery offering a legitimate glimmer of hope for the long-suffering Sox. They also seem to have rejuvenated Robert, who is hitting like a decent player again since the All-Star break. Bradley has historically struggled in the early innings, and he did legitimately look better as the game went on.
But the hitters never made a dent against Gomez, drawing a couple of walks but otherwise playing into his hands. They worked counts at times, but in the few instances in which they actually made hard contact, the ball found Sox defenders' gloves. Gomez was done after a dribbler of a single from Byron Buxton in the fifth, finishing with four and two-thirds innings, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out six.
Facing reliever (Brandon Eisert) in the sixth, Brooks Lee walked, and with two outs, Ryan Jeffers roped a double over the head of Tauchman in right field. Somehow, Lee barely made third base on the play. Is he really this slow? The metrics certainly think so, with a 16th-percentile sprint speed; it just doesn't seem like he's ever really sprinting. Even a slow runner should really score on a two-out double to the wall, though. Anyway, Royce Lewis struck out on three pitches to end the threat.
Pierson Ohl finished the game with three solid innings, while a trio of Sox relievers kept the Twins lineup on silent mode.
Stray Observations:
-Pierson Ohl threw a couple more knuckleballs. I guess his search for a secondary pitch to complement his changeup has arrived at the gimmick stage. At least he understands the assignment for the stretch run with this team: do something interesting.
-Luke Keaschall made two errors. One came on a relay throw that flew over Edouard Julien's head; the second was a booted ground ball. Hopefully, this is not the start of a trend. He did record a double and a walk to keep his OPS above .900. His fielding percentage is above that, too—for now.
-Kody Clemens went 0-4, and although he has been a nice story, if he finishes the year with an OPS under .700, it becomes a little harder to justify handing him a roster spot for 2026.
What’s Next: Joe Ryan (12-6, 2.77 ERA) takes on Max Scherzer (4-2, 3.60 ERA) as the Twins make their annual trek to Canada to take on the AL East-leading Blue Jays on Monday. Scherzer has been reborn into a serviceable starter once more at age 41, allowing just eight runs over his past five starts and going at least six innings in each turn. Ryan had one of his more regrettable starts last time out against the A's, and will be looking to bounce back against one of the best lineups in baseball.
Postgame Interviews:
Bullpen Usage Chart:
| WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | TOT | |
| Hatch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 | 54 |
| Topa | 20 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 52 |
| Ohl | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 46 |
| Cabrera | 20 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
| Tonkin | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
| Sands | 17 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
| Funderburk | 7 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Kriske | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
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