KANSAS CITY -- Taj Bradley thrives in the big moments. And there were none bigger than the two at-bats Thursday afternoon that the right-hander executed to perfection to lead the Twins to a 5-1 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
The first, against 2024 AL MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr., came with runners on first and second with two outs in the third inning. Bradley appeared to get out of the jam when he made Witt pop up into foul territory, but the wind fooled first baseman Kody Clemens and the ball dropped harmlessly.
That’s when Bradley took it into his own hands.
He fired a 100 mph heater -- the fastest pitch by a Twins starting pitcher since pitch tracking began in 2008 -- right past Witt for a called strike to escape the jam, celebrating by clapping his hand to his glove and skipping off the mound.
Bradley found even more trouble in the fourth after the Royals loaded the bases on three singles, but the right-hander won a six-pitch battle against Lane Thomas by getting the right fielder to chase a low-and-away cutter.
After that, Bradley settled in for two quick innings to toss six scoreless frames, picking up his first win of the year. Bradley was great in his season debut on Saturday, striking out nine in the Twins’ only other victory this season, but he went just 4 1/3 frames after a laborious first inning. He struck out only three Thursday, but his effectiveness in the zone set up Minnesota’s back end of the ‘pen to close it out.
The Twins’ first two runs came via an error and sacrifice fly, but Matt Wallner, Kody Clemens and Josh Bell all went yard in the ninth -- Clemens and Bell back-to-back -- to comfortably avoid the sweep in Kansas City.
Minnesota (2-4) now heads north for its home opener Friday against the Rays -- a day full of festivities beginning at 6 a.m. CT.