What a disappointment the 2026 Minnesota Twins season has been.
The Twins on Thursday fell to 15-27 since July after they lost 5-4 in extra innings to the Los Angeles Angels in Game 1 of a new but likely disappointing series.
Starter Taj Bradley served up three quick runs, but the Twins rallied with three runs of their own, including a very welcome two-run blast from top rookie prospect Walker Jenkins, to force extra innings.
But closer Yoendrys Gomez, who has been so good for most of the season, has been a disaster of late. He again was tagged with the loss and blown save in the 10th inning.
They try again tomorrow. Connor Prielipp gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 71-82 with nine games remaining against the Angels, Giants and Rangers.
–The bright spot: Starter Bradley fanned nine across seven innings to give him 199 strikeouts on the season. He has been a huge and welcome addition to this team, setting career marks in wins, earned run average, innings pitched and the punchouts. He is expected to get one more start, which should push his strikeout totals to more than 200.
More bright spots:
- Walker Jenkins: The rookie had a 3-for-4 day at the plate, with two runs scored, two RBI and the dinger, his second this season.
- Luke Keaschall: Keaschall went all-world in the just-completed series against the New York Yankees. Hitting leadoff, he went 6-for-11 with three walks, two runs, an RBI and a stolen base. It’s great to see that he is not intimidated by the Yankees, something not all Twins players have been able to say, I feel.
- Brooks Lee drove in two runs on Thursday to give him 81 this season. He, too, has had a good season, hitting 23 home runs to go along with the runs batted in.
–How do you beat the Yankees? You force them into extra innings where they are a dismal 4-11 when playing free baseball. The Twins lost the series to them, but did salvage a Game 3 win by beating them 5-4 in 13 innings. Victor Caratini delivered the walk-off hit.
–It’s tough losing to the Angels because they are the worst team in the American League at 59-94.
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