Bradley Fans 10, Minnesota Erases Early Deficit to Down Cleveland

Taj Bradley was nearly untouchable, going 7.0 innings with 10 strikeouts, 3 hits, and just 1 earned run to anchor Minnesota's 3-1 win over Cleveland on July 7. The story of the night was how quickly the Twins answered a Rhys Hoskins shot — and then made it stick.

Cleveland struck first and struck hard. Hoskins led off the second inning with a 416-foot home run to center, giving the Guardians a 1-0 lead and looking like the kind of blow that could define a low-scoring game. It didn't take long for Minnesota to respond. Still in the second, Austin Martin hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Kody Clemens and tie it, then Brooks Lee singled to center to score Kreidler and push Keaschall to third — just like that, the Twins had flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead without the inning even ending. Cleveland's Joey Cantillo was navigating real trouble, and Minnesota had taken full advantage.

The game stayed 2-1 deep into the middle innings, which is where Bradley's dominance became the central fact of the night. He finished with 10 strikeouts across 7.0 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 0 walks — a performance that looks, frankly, like one of the cleaner outings a starter can put together. Cantillo, for his part, was no disaster: 5.0 innings, 0 earned runs, 7 strikeouts, though 6 hits and 3 walks kept him working. The Guardians' Chase DeLauter went 2-for-3 and gave Cleveland something to build on offensively, but the lineup couldn't push another run across against Bradley and the Minnesota bullpen.

The dagger came in the seventh. With Josh Bell on base, Kody Clemens tripled to left to score Bell and push the lead to 3-1 — a play that swung Minnesota's win probability from 77% to 89%, a 12-point jump that effectively closed the door. Clemens finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Bell went 2-for-3 with a run of his own. Andrew Morris followed Bradley with a clean 1.0 inning of relief — no hits, no walks, one strikeout — and Franco Aleman worked 1.0 inning for Cleveland in a game that was already out of reach. Minnesota wins 3-1, and the story of the night was Bradley making a one-run lead feel like five.