Twins bullpen wastes strong outing by Taj Bradley in loss to Texas Rangers

Taj Bradley will enter the offseason on a high note, delivering his best outing in a Twins uniform in his last start of the regular season.

The Twins bullpen, well, not so much.

Bradley yielded two hits and one run in six innings against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, striking out nine, but the Rangers scored three runs against two relievers in the seventh inning to hand the Twins a 4-2 loss at Globe Life Field.

The Twins, who gave up two runs in the seventh inning on wild pitches, notched their first 90-loss season since 2016, and they saw their winning streak end at two games. They haven’t won three games in a row since Aug. 5-8.

Bradley was gifted a one-run lead before he took the mound — Byron Buxton homered on the game’s second pitch from Rangers ace Jacob deGrom — and he didn’t need much more help.

Acquired from Tampa Bay in a trade for reliever Griffin Jax, Bradley showed why the Twins valued him. He racked up five strikeouts through the first two innings, featuring a fastball that averaged 96 mph and a curveball that hitters seemingly couldn’t put into play.

“The fastball-curveball combination was really something special,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters in Arlington, Texas. “He was able to throw that pitch to righties and lefties. The lefties, especially, I don’t think saw that pitch real good.”

“Going into the offseason, that gives you a lot to be excited about and a lot to think about,” Baldelli said.

Bradley, 24, had a 0-2 record and a 6.62 ERA in six starts with the Twins. He showed glimpses of dominance in Tampa, and it was on display for a couple of starts after he was traded.

The Rangers pulled ahead in the seventh inning against reliever Travis Adams. Ezequiel Durán hit a one-out single and stole second base before Billy McKinney hit a go-ahead RBI single to left field on a changeup that was off the plate.

After a single moved McKinney to third, he scored when Adams threw a wild pitch during an at-bat when Michael Helman attempted to bunt on the first pitch.

BOXSCORE: Texas 4, Twins 2

Génesis Cabrera replaced Adams, and he threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded for an additional run. Cabrera owns an 8.31 ERA in 14 appearances with the Twins, and he’s walked 11 batters in 13 innings.

“The fact we gave them a three-run lead at that point by not throwing strikes, that’s tough,” Baldelli said. “It is going to happen on occasion, but we talk about the fundamentals a lot and taking care of those.”

Buxton clubbed a 447-foot homer to straightaway center on deGrom’s second pitch, the second sweeper he saw on the outside corner of the plate. Buxton has nine leadoff homers this season, the second most in Twins history behind Jacque Jones’ 11 leadoff homers in 2002.

“That was an absolute rocket out to center field,” Baldelli said.

It was the fifth leadoff homer deGrom surrendered this season. Good thing for the Twins, too, because the two-time Cy Young award winner was nearly untouchable afterward.

Josh Smith opened the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer to right field after starting his at-bat in a 3-0 count.

The Twins, trailing by three runs in the eighth inning, greeted Rangers reliever Shawn Armstrong with back-to-back hits. Edouard Julien hit a leadoff double into the right-center gap — his second hit of the game — and Royce Lewis followed with an RBI single to center.