Bradley keeps rolling as Twins pull to 1 game below .500 entering break

MINNEAPOLIS – Taj Bradley is entering the All-Star break turning back into the pitcher he was to start the 2026 season.

Over his previous four starts entering Sunday, Bradley owned a 2.25 ERA and 0.88 WHIP, struck out 32 batters and walked just eight over 24 innings pitched. He built on that success with seven innings of two-run ball off of six hits and two walks while striking out six batters on the way to the Twins' 4-2 victory over the Angels.

“He’s got such special stuff,” said Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. “He knows that his game plan’s pretty simple. Throw his stuff in the zone, and he’s going to get a lot of outs. I can’t say enough how special of an arm he is.”

“That guy Bradley's good,” said Angels manager Kurt Suzuki. “He's good. He executed pitches when he needed to, made pitches and that's what good pitchers do. He got out of a couple jams.”

But Bradley didn’t get it all done by himself. If it weren’t for some amazing defensive plays from Ryan Kreidler, the game could have turned out much differently for him and the Twins.

Kreidler made not just one, but two crucial plays, catching a line drive off the bat of Angels shortstop Zach Neto to end the fifth. Then, in the sixth, he sparked a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play that prevented Mike Trout from scoring a run from third to make it a one-run game.

“Everybody is doing great,” said Bradley. “I mean, Kreidler is out there showcasing great defense. We've got double plays turned, early contact off the bat, putting runs together. It's just all coming together, and the series wins are always big for us.”

“He gets [Jorge] Soler on the fly ball and then [Jo] Adell on the double play ball, which was a really good turn by Kody [Clemens] on a slow-hit ball,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton on Bradley’s sixth inning. “Kreidler gave him a good feed. I think we just continue to see him grow, get better and mature. That was definitely a sign right there.”

On the offensive side, the Twins did the heavy lifting in the third inning, with three straight one-out singles from Luke Keaschall, Kreidler and Trevor Larnach, who had the game-tying RBI. Then, Jeffers pulled a double down the left-field line, which scored Kreidler and Larnach all the way from first base.

“I feel like I picked up not missing a beat from where I was early in the year,” Jeffers said. “It’s always in the back of your head when you go down [with] an injury when you’re playing well, is where are you able to find that quickly. I felt like I found it pretty quickly on my rehab assignment.”

And just for some extra insurance in the eighth, Larnach added a run to the board with his seventh homer of the season.

The Twins' win puts them at 48-49 going into the All-Star break, tied with the Mariners for the third American League Wild Card spot, and three back of the White Sox and Guardians for first in the AL Central.

For an American League that has had a chaotic roller coaster ride throughout the season, the Twins are happy where they are, going into the break well within the playoff race and getting some much earned rest ahead of the second half.

“We’ve run guys, especially our position players, pretty hard. It’s a situation where, because of the fact we’ve won eight of the last nine series, I want them to enjoy the break, and then we get back and get after the Cubs,” said Shelton.