Angels 5, Twins 4: Walker Jenkins's Big Moment Not Quite Enough

Box Score
SP: Taj Bradley - 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 9 K (98 pitches, 65 strikes (66% strikes))
Home Runs: Walker Jenkins (2)
Bottom 3 WPA: Yoendrys Gómez (-0.38), Kody Funderburk (-0.18), Josh Bell (-0.18)
Win Probability Chart

The Twins entered Thursday night's contest against the Angels looking to start their four-game set with a win. Instead, they found themselves in an early hole and spent most of the night trying to fight their way back.

Los Angeles jumped on Taj Bradley for three runs in the first inning, but the right-hander settled in and completely shut the Angels down from there. Minnesota's offense, meanwhile, struggled to generate much of anything until the eighth inning, when a late rally finally gave them a chance.

The Twins tied the game in the ninth on a massive Walker Jenkins homer, then took their first lead of the night in the 10th. Unfortunately, Los Angeles answered in the bottom half and walked it off, handing Minnesota a 5-4 loss and dropping the Twins to 71-82 on the season with just nine games remaining.

TAJ BRADLEY TURNED THINGS AROUND AFTER A ROUGH FIRST
Bradley couldn't have asked for a much worse start to Thursday night's game. After striking out Zach Neto on a curveball to begin the bottom of the first, Bradley walked Mike Trout and allowed Wade Meckler to single. That brought Moisés Ballesteros to the plate, and the Angels' catcher smoked a ball to center field to score Trout and give Los Angeles an early 1-0 lead.

Things snowballed a bit from there. Denzer Guzman followed with another single to bring Meckler home before Oswald Peraza lined another ball into right field. Ballesteros scored on the play, and both Guzman and Peraza advanced on the throw to make it a 3-0 game. Bradley finally escaped the inning when José Siri struck out, but it took him 28 pitches to get through the first.

After that, however, Bradley was outstanding. He retired the Angels in order in the second, getting Neto to swing through a curveball before Trout grounded out to Brooks Lee. He then worked another 1-2-3 inning in the third, retiring seven consecutive batters after the rough first.

Bradley continued to cruise from there, striking out Neto for the third time in the fifth before retiring Trout and Meckler to end the inning. He then worked another quick 1-2-3 sixth and struck out Josh Lowe to end the seventh. After allowing three runs in the first, Bradley didn't allow another one.

He finished his night with seven innings, three runs allowed and a staggering 20 whiffs on 98 pitches. Unfortunately, because the Twins' offense couldn't get anything going early, Bradley was still in line for the loss despite pitching seven dominant innings after the first.

THE TWINS FINALLY FOUND SOME LIFE IN THE EIGHTH
For most of the night, Minnesota's offense looked completely overmatched. The Twins managed just three hits through the first seven innings and couldn't put together a serious threat against Walbert Ureña. But that finally changed in the eighth. Walker Jenkins led off the inning with a single. Ben Ross ripped a double into left field. Suddenly, the Twins had runners on second and third with nobody out and their first real scoring opportunity of the night.

Luke Keaschall couldn't capitalize, striking out looking, but Brooks Lee came through with a sacrifice fly to bring Jenkins home. That cut the deficit to 3-1. Kody Clemens then worked a walk to keep the inning alive, but Josh Bell struck out to strand two runners and end the threat. It wasn't quite the massive inning Minnesota needed, but it was enough to give the Twins some momentum heading into the ninth.

And they would need every bit of it.

WALKER JENKINS DELIVERED THE BIGGEST HIT OF HIS YOUNG CAREER
The ninth inning provided the biggest moment of the night for the Twins. Ben Joyce came in looking to close out the game for Los Angeles, and he immediately showed why he's so difficult to hit. Emmanuel Rodriguez swung through a 102 MPH fastball for the first out before Royce Lewis got frozen by a 103 MPH heater on the outside corner. With the Twins down to their final out, Victor Caratini lined a single into center field to bring Jenkins to the plate as the tying run. 

He turned on a 101 MPH fastball and launched it out for a game-tying two-run homer, tying the game at three and giving him his third hit of the night on what was already the first multi-hit game of his major league career. It was a massive moment for the 22-year-old, especially considering how little the Twins' offense had been able to do throughout the first eight innings.

Ross struck out to end the inning, but the damage had already been done. The Twins had come all the way back. And suddenly, extra innings were on the table.

THE TWINS COULDN'T HOLD ON IN EXTRAS
Minnesota finally took its first lead of the night in the top of the 10th. With Ben Ross starting the inning as the extra-inning runner, Keaschall opened the frame with a single through the left side. That kept Ross at third and put runners on the corners for Lee. Lee then smoked a 2-0 sinker into right field, bringing Ross home and giving the Twins their first lead of the night at 4-3.

Clemens laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up, but Bell popped out and the Angels intentionally walked Ryan Jeffers to load the bases for Lewis. Unfortunately, Lewis struck out to end the inning, leaving Minnesota with just a one-run lead to protect.

Yoendrys Gómez got the ball in the bottom half and immediately found himself in trouble. Pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom flew out to Austin Martin, but Siri tagged up and moved to third. Gómez then walked Neto, setting up a massive at-bat against Trout. Turns out, that's not the guy you want to face in a high-leverage spot.

He lined a ball past Ross to score Siri and tie the game at four. That ended Gómez's night, with Kody Funderburk coming in to try to keep the game alive. Instead, the first pitch he threw was grounded into right field for a walk-off single. Just like that, the Twins went from finally taking their first lead of the night to walking off the field with a loss.

Minnesota fought all the way back after trailing 3-0, tied the game in the ninth and took the lead in extras. But it wasn't enough. The Angels win 5-4. The Twins fall to 71-82, and with only nine games left in the season, Thursday's loss felt like another frustrating summary of how this season has gone for Minnesota.

What’s Next?
The Twins and Angels will continue their four-game series in Anaheim tomorrow night. Connor Prielipp is lined up to start for Minnesota, and he’s set to face off against right-hander Grayson Rodriguez. First pitch is set for 8:38 PM.

Postgame Interviews
Coming soon!

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