Taj Bradley and Ryan Jeffers made sure the Twins didn’t waste a strong night on the mound Monday, powering an 11-1 win over the Tigers at Target Field.
Bradley set the tone from the start and never really let Detroit settle in. He opened the game with a pair of strikeouts in the first inning, then closed his outing by fanning the final two batters he faced in the seventh. In between, the right-hander gave up only four hits and one run, that damage coming on a solo homer by Hao-Yu Lee in the sixth.
Bradley’s final line came with nine strikeouts, and when trouble did surface, he worked out of it with two key double play balls. Derek Shelton said the curveball was especially sharp, noting it picked up five called strikes and looked like Bradley’s best version of that pitch this season. Bradley also kept his velocity up all night, finishing his outing by throwing a 100.1 mph pitch to the last hitter he faced.
“It felt great. It felt great having the defense behind me to make some plays, turning two,” Bradley said.
“Brooks (Lee) made that amazing catch in the first. We did great to keep a lead.”
Jeffers gave Bradley plenty of breathing room. With the Twins leading by two in the fifth, Jeffers jumped on a high fastball and sent it out for a three-run homer, his first since July 31. The blast came right after Kody Clemens worked a 12-pitch walk, and it helped turn the game into a runaway.
Jeffers wasn’t done. He added his second homer of the month in the seventh, finishing with two home runs on the night.
“It wasn’t a great August for me. I felt like I was putting … a good process together, but just didn’t have great ABs, great results,” Jeffers said.
“So, you know, putting in the work in the cage. A testament to those (coaches).
We’ve been working through stuff, trying to find the right feel to where we were pre-(hand) surgery, and I think we found some good momentum.”
Luke Keaschall also chipped in with two hits and scored three runs, including one on Lee’s bases-clearing single in the sixth. Lee’s hit cleared the bags and stretched the Twins’ lead even further, while Keaschall showed good hustle coming all the way around from first.
Walker Jenkins added another milestone in the eighth. The rookie center fielder picked up his first major league home run, and it came off a position player. Jenkins, who said he was more nervous than he would be for a normal at-bat, turned around a 37.4 mph pitch from Zach McKinstry and sent a two-run shot just inside the right-field line.
“It was an absolute blessing,” Jenkins said, “but the boys are already giving me a hard time about it.”
“Don’t strike out. That’s kind of what we got.
I swung and fouled one off, and I was like, ‘Oh, no. Let’s just try to put something in play,’ ” - Jenkins, on his mindset against McKinstry
The Twins announced after the game that Andrew Morris will start Tuesday night instead of Connor Prielipp, who is likely to enter the game next. Detroit will counter with Troy Melton in the second game of the three-game series.
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