Taj Bradley's strong outing helps Twins salvage finale of three-game series in Kansas City with 5-1 victory

Bobby Nightengale, Star Tribune on Apr 2, 2026

Published in Baseball

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The Twins had to wait until the ninth inning before their bats warmed up Thursday, hitting three solo homers in a four-batter span against Kansas City Royals reliever Steven Cruz.

Taj Bradley ensured the Twins offense could take its time.

Bradley threw six scoreless innings to lead the Twins to a 5-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium. Bradley, who has started both games the Twins won this year, earned his first win in eight starts with the team.

Next up on the Twins schedule is their home opener against Tampa Bay on Friday.

“The one thing we’re learning about this club is they fight,” manager Derek Shelton told reporters in Kansas City.

With a one-run lead in the ninth inning, Matt Wallner hit Cruz’s third pitch over the left-field fence for his second home run of the season.

Two batters later, Kody Clemens lifted a slider over the left-field wall to make up for a rough game defensively at first base. Josh Bell made it back-to-back homers when he pulled a slider to right field.

The Twins had an opportunity to break the game open an inning earlier after they loaded the bases with one out. It resulted in one run when Byron Buxton hit a sacrifice fly to center for a two-run lead.

Kansas City responded with a run in the bottom of the eighth after Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. hit back-to-back singles off reliever Cole Sands. Garcia scored on a sacrifice fly.

Justin Topa pitched around a fielding error by Royce Lewis in the bottom of the ninth.

But it all started with Bradley, who retired his first eight batters.

When the Royals put two runners on base with two outs in the third inning, he struck out Witt with a 100-mph fastball for a called third strike to end a six-pitch at-bat.

Bradley pitched around subpar defense, too. The Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth inning, and that included two infield singles. Shortstop Tristan Gray bobbled a grounder and bounced a throw to first base. Two batters later, second baseman Luke Keaschall slid to stop a ground ball, saving a run by keeping the ball from the outfield, but he didn’t field it cleanly to have a play at first base.

It didn’t seem to affect the 25-year-old Bradley. He ended the fourth when he struck out Lane Thomas on a cutter in the dirt, stranding the bases loaded.

Bradley, who yielded five hits and one walk in six innings, owns a 0.87 ERA through his first two starts this year.

The Twins scored a run in the second inning through two baserunning mistakes. Victor Caratini opened with a leadoff single. When Clemens followed with a single to right field, Caratini made the ill-advised decision to try to advance to third base after briefly hesitating while approaching second base.

Caratini was thrown out by several feet. Then Clemens, who advanced to second on Caratini’s baserunning blunder, was rewarded when he made his own mistake.

After Lewis whiffed at a pitch, Clemens apparently thought it was a foul ball, and he froze between second and third base. Royals catcher Salvador Perez attempted to throw behind Clemens, but he overthrew the ball to second base, allowing Clemens to score the game’s first run when the ball rolled into center field.

Twins lefty Taylor Rogers entered for a left-on-left matchup against Jac Caglianone with the tying run at second base in the eighth inning. Rogers struck out Caglianone on four pitches, sneaking two sweepers past the young slugger.

“He has the ability to slow his heartbeat down,” Shelton said about Rogers.

Bradley dialed up his fastball to 100 mph when he struck out Witt with two runners on base in the third inning, freezing Witt on a pitch down the middle.

That was the fastest pitch by a Twins starting pitcher since at least 2008, when MLB started tracking each pitch.

“It was 100 with 23 inches of [vertical break],” Shelton said. “You don’t see that very often. And we’re talking about a guy who has led baseball in hits the last two years, and one of the best players. I think [Bradley] wanted that at-bat.”

The Twins are headed home. Bailey Ober is the scheduled starter for their first game at Target Field this season, playing host to the Tampa Bay Rays at 3:10 p.m. Friday.

It will be a matchup between two of the tallest starting pitchers in baseball with the 6-foot-9 Ober and Joe Boyle, a 6-8 right-hander. Boyle allowed three hits and two runs across six innings in his season debut against the St. Louis Cardinals.