Box Score
SP: Taj Bradley – 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K (92 pitches, 58 strikes (63% strikes))
Home Runs: Royce Lewis (1)
Top 3 WPA: Lewis (0.20), Eric Orze (0.13), Bradley (0.11)
Taj Battles Early, While Twins Bats Do Not
The Twins went 18-32-2 in their series in 2025, including going 7-19 in road series and 1-7 in series to end the season. A loss on Saturday afternoon in Baltimore would keep the worst kind of momentum alive, while a victory could give early hope to a season that desperately need it. On a day where Griffin Jax lost the game for the Rays down in St. Louis, his trade counterpart Taj Bradley took the hill for the Rays hoping to establish himself as a fixture in the Twins rotation for years to come. Bradley only had 73 starts before Saturday, but he’d already faced the Orioles seven times. Would this familiarity be enough to get the Twins back into the win column?
Bradley struck out the first two Orioles that he faced, but then surrendered the Polar Bear’s first hit for his new club. Two walks later, and Bradley was facing a 30-plus pitch inning and loaded bases. A 98-mph heater blew by Dylan Beavers, however, and the Twins escaped the first inning unscathed. Meanwhile RHP Kyle Bradish made quick work of the Twins lineup through the first two innings, only allowing a walk to Ryan Jeffers in the second.
In the bottom of the second, Bradley again got the first out quickly, but he soon gave up a 103.9 mph double to Colton Cowser on a 1-2 count. On the very next pitch, Jeremiah Jackson laced a hanging cutter into left to plate Cowser and put the Orioles up 1-0. That was all of the offense that Baltimore would mount against the young hurler, as Bradley battled his way into the fifth inning while making some Twins history of his own. In the bottom of the third inning, Bradley struck out Adley Rutschman with a 100-mph fastball, the fastest recorded pitch by a Twins starter in the StatCast era!
Buxton and Lewis Ignite the Offense
In the anticlimactic season opener, Byron Buxton was the lone bright spot as he flashed power and speed to help manufacture the Twins’ only run. In the top of the fourth inning on Saturday, in his 900th career game, the Buck Truck led off and showed how speed kills yet again. The action started with a successful Twins challenge, by Grady Sizemore via the Twins bench, as Buxton’s slow grounder up the middle was fielded but Jackson’s throw was unable to catch the racing Buxton down the line. Buxton took second on a fly ball to center. Yes. On a fly ball to center. Then Rutschman tried to catch Buxton sleeping off of second, but his throw down glanced off of back of Buxton’s helmet and headed out into center field which allowed Buxton to advance to third. After Matt Wallner drew his third walk of the season, Josh Bell stepped up and delivered a sacrifice fly to shallow left. Not many ballplayers could score on that ball, but the Buck Truck is one of them. 1-1 ballgame, and Bell notched his first RBI for his new club.
Trevor Larnach started the fourth inning by working a well-earned walk. Royce Lewis and his well-documented early spring training struggles strode to the plate. On a fastball that was riding in on his hands, Lewis turned on it and drilled a low line drive that carried just beyond the outfield wall. By the time he circled the bases and touched the plate, it was 3-1 Minnesota, and the Twins had their first home run of the season.
Early Struggles Put Pressure on Revamped Twins Pen
While Bradley held the Orioles to only one run, he also only managed to last 4 1/3 innings. New Twins lefty reliever Anthony Banda entered in the bottom of the fifth and immediately drew the ire of Gunnar Henderson by hitting him up and in on the hands. The rest of Banda’s debut was “effectively wild” as the hit by pitch and a walk to Rutschman were offset by two strike outs.
Lefty Kody Funderburk got the call for the sixth, and he struck out the first two Orioles that he faced. Ryan Mountcastle and Jackson took advantage of pitches in the zone for singles, and it was time for another new arm to make his Twins debut. Righty Eric Orze also appeared to feel the nerves of outing number one, walking Taylor Ward to load the bases and running the count full to Henderson before Gunnar gracefully flew out on ball four to end the threat.
Baseball the Shelton Way
The aggressive works of Derek Shelton continued to manifest hope across Twins Territory in the top of the seventh inning. Lewis worked a one-out walk, and while Brooks Lee flailed into a strike out, Lewis stole second base. Kody Clemens, batting leadoff in his first start of the season, laced a line drive into center field and plated Lewis to add an insurance run to make it 4-1.
Shelton’s strategy continued into the bottom of the seventh, with James Outman taking Larnach’s place in left. Again, immediate dividends were reaped as Alonso flew out to Outman on a nice foul-territory play to help fuel Orze to a three up, three down innings. Justin Topa got the confidence of his manager to find some redemption in the bottom of the eighth, and another three up, three down innings was the payoff for that confidence.
Cole Sands filled the closer role for the first save opportunity of the season, and he struck out Jackson swinging on a big curve ball. Taylor Ward took a four-pitch walk and then struck out Henderson on a high cutter. With the insurance run sitting in his back pocket, Sands toed the rubber against Alonso and immediately induced a game-ending groundout to seal the first Twins victory of the 2026 season!
Other Notes
There were three challenged pitch calls and one challenged call on the bases. The overturned call on the bases led to a run for the Twins, and the final challenged pitch call by Jeffers behind the plate led to a Topa strikeout. Jeffers unsuccessfully challenged a ball call earlier in the game.
What’s Next?
The Twins will hope to grab their first series win of the season against the Orioles on Sunday afternoon in Baltimore. The Twins will send RHP Bailey Ober to the mound for his first start of the season to face former Rays first round pick RHP Shane Baz. Baz just signed a five-year, $68 million contract with the Orioles who acquired him in a trade with the Rays this offseason. This not only prevents Ober from making the dreaded early-season Kansas City start in the next series but also gives the Twins offense a chance to keep its lefty-heavy lineup rolling. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35pm CDT.
Postgame Interviews
Bullpen Availability Chart
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
TOT
Topa
0
0
18
0
12
30
Funderburk
0
0
17
0
13
30
Orze
0
0
0
0
21
21
Sands
0
0
0
0
16
16
Banda
0
0
0
0
15
15
Rogers
0
0
10
0
0
10
Laweryson
0
0
0
0
0
0
Kent
0
0
0
0
0
0