Byron Buxton leaves with injury in loss to Athletics; Taj Bradley makes Twins history with 'immaculate inning'

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Aug 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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Taj Bradley became the first pitcher in Twins history to complete an immaculate inning, striking out three batters in nine pitches during the fifth inning, but there wasn’t much else for the Twins to celebrate Tuesday in Sacramento.

Center fielder Byron Buxton left in the seventh inning of a 4-2 loss to the Athletics because of an injury.

Bradley struck out 11 batters in 6⅔ innings, matching a season high, but he gave up four runs. The Twins’ offense totaled four hits, and two of them were infield pop-ups that the Athletics dropped.

The Twins fell at Sutter Health Park, their fourth loss in five games on their West Coast road trip. At 64-69, they slipped to 2½ games out of a wild-card spot and 5½ games back in the American League Central.

Buxton already had two stints on the 10-day injured list since the start of July because of right hip pain. He was running after a ball that Henry Bolte hit into the right-center gap in the seventh inning, and he appeared to sustain another injury when he attempted to reach down with his glove.

Bolte ended up with a triple after the ball bounced past Buxton to the wall. Buxton handed his glove to right fielder Luke Keaschall as he bent over at the waist. After a visit from a trainer and manager Derek Shelton, Buxton walked straight into the center field clubhouse.

This was Buxton’s 11th game back in the lineup after his second stint on the IL. One day after he had three hits and scored four runs, he was hitless in three at-bats Tuesday with three strikeouts.

Bradley worked ahead in counts, throwing a first-pitch strike to 21 of his 28 batters, and he racked up swings and misses with his fastball, cutter and splitter, but two-out runs ruined his outing.

After giving up a two-out double to Alika Williams in the second inning, Bradley surrendered a two-run homer to Carlos Cortes on a two-strike cutter that he left elevated over the inside part of the plate. It was Cortes’ eighth homer of the season.

Bradley retired 12 of his next 13 batters after the homer, including his immaculate fifth inning where he tallied four whiffs, four called strikes and one foul. He finished the immaculate inning by freezing Bolte with a 99.8-mph fastball, his hardest pitch of the evening.

Bradley was the third MLB pitcher to notch an immaculate inning this season. The last one, Cleveland’s Gavin Williams, came against the Twins on July 23.

The A’s scored two more runs in the sixth inning, a rally that started when Lawrence Butler hit a two-out single. Tommy White followed with an RBI double on a first-pitch cutter, and Donovan Walton added an RBI single when he connected on a two-strike fastball.

The Twins cut into their deficit with a two-run seventh inning — Kaelen Culpepper hit an RBI double and scored on a groundout — but they didn’t have a baserunner over the final two innings.

Vahn Lackey has wild debut in Iowa

Vahn Lackey, the Twins’ top pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, was promoted to high-Class A Cedar Rapids and homered in his first game at his new level.

Playing in a wild 18-17 loss to Lake County on Tuesday, Lackey went 3-for-4 with two walks, three RBI and three runs.

Lackey, a 21-year-old catcher who was selected at No. 3 overall, played 15 games at low-A Fort Myers to begin his pro career. He had 11 hits in 54 at-bats (.204 average) while posting a .389 on-base percentage. He added five stolen bases in six attempts.

Injury update

Joe Ryan (left glute strain) is scheduled to simulate one inning of live at-bats Wednesday, manager Derek Shelton told reporters in Sacramento. Ryan is expected to make at least one minor league rehab start before potentially rejoining the Twins’ rotation.

Up next

The Twins will conclude their six-game road trip with an 8:05 p.m. game against the Athletics on Wednesday. Rookie lefthander Connor Prielipp (3-7 record, 5.57 ERA) is scheduled to start versus righthander J.T. Ginn (8-8, 3.60).