Twins and Giants Collide at Oracle in Late-Season Irrelevance Bowl
Two teams well below .500 meet Tuesday night at Oracle Park, where the 2026 season is already a postmortem for both clubs. There's no model read to anchor this one — so we're going purely on the players who still have something to prove.
Minnesota comes in at 73-84, San Francisco at 65-92, and neither fanbase is circling this date on the calendar for playoff implications. What makes it worth watching is the individual storylines still playing out in the final stretch of a long, disappointing season for both sides. Taj Bradley is expected to take the mound for the Twins, while Anthony Molina is set to start for the Giants — two pitchers with a chance to close out 2026 on a note that matters for their respective futures, even if the standings don't.
On the Minnesota side, the offensive trio to track is clear. Josh Bell leads the Twins with 91 RBI — a legitimate counting-stat season that deserves recognition regardless of the team's record. Kody Clemens has slugged 26 home runs, which is real pop from a player who isn't a household name. And Luke Keaschall is hitting .276, quietly putting together a respectable average in a lineup that hasn't had much to celebrate. These aren't stars in the traditional sense, but they're players with numbers worth watching as the season winds down.
For San Francisco, Drew Gilbert is the name to know — he leads the Giants in both home runs (11) and RBI (43). Those numbers tell a story of a young player still finding his footing on a rebuilding roster. The Giants at 65-92 are one of the worst records in baseball this season, and Gilbert's production, modest as it is, represents one of the few bright spots worth monitoring heading into the offseason. Our model doesn't have a read on this game, and honestly, that's fitting — this is the kind of late-September matchup where the numbers are thin and the stakes are personal. Watch the starters, watch Bell and Clemens, and see if Gilbert can do anything against a Twins arm that still has something to prove.