​MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Taj Bradley dazzled with one run allowed and 10 strikeouts over seven innings, while Kody Clemens contributed two hits and an RBI as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 on Tuesday night. Bradley, now 8-3, reached a career-best 11 strikeouts his last time out on July 1 at Houston and leaned on swing-and-miss stuff throughout this game, amassing a career-high 25 swinging strikes. He yielded three hits, did not issue a walk, and secured his third win in his last four starts.
Andrew Morris delivered a spotless eighth inning, and Taylor Rogers plus Yoendrys Gómez combined to lock down a scoreless ninth for Minnesota, which has won six of its past eight games. Rhys Hoskins did homer for Cleveland, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped. Joey Cantillo took the loss, falling to 7-4 after five innings in which he allowed two runs, both unearned, on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
Cleveland drew first blood in the second when Hoskins hit a solo homer, but Minnesota answered with two unearned runs in the bottom half. Clemens sparked the rally to begin the frame by reaching on an error when a ground ball that should have been routine caromed between second baseman Travis Bazzana’s legs. Brayan Rocchio made a nice play on a chopper hit by Ryan Kreidler and fired to short, but his throw to second base was late and wide, allowing Clemens to reach safely. Luke Keaschall followed with a grounder to first that Manzardo initially inspected at the bag before flipping to Cantillo, who was covering first; the throw, though, came in late, enabling Keaschall to reach safely and loading the bases.
With the bases loaded, the Twins pulled ahead on a pair of productive outs and another clutch hit. Austin Martin drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Brooks Lee delivered a two-out RBI single to push Minnesota in front 2-1. In the seventh, Clemens delivered a two-base hit, a line drive trip into the left-center gap that scored Josh Bell and extended the lead.
Looking ahead, the Twins will send left-hander Connor Prielipp (2-5, 4.96 ERA) to the mound to face Cleveland right-hander Slade Cecconi (4-6, 4.44) on Wednesday.