Taj Bradley’s Immaculate Inning Powers Twins In AL Wild Card Push

Taj Bradley makes twins history

Taj Bradley made Twins history with a 9-pitch immaculate inning Tuesday. He fanned the side in the 5th inning against the Athletics.

Taj Bradley throws first immaculate inning in twins history...

Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley made history on Tuesday, throwing the first immaculate inning in Minnesota Twins franchise history against the Athletics.

The 25-year-old struck out Carlos Cortes, Brian Serven, and Henry Bolte on just nine pitches in the bottom of the fifth.

The franchise, originally the Washington Senators before relocating to Minnesota and becoming the Twins in 1960, has had many great pitchers since 1961. But none had ever thrown an immaculate inning until Bradley did it on August 25, 2026.  

The 4-year MLB veteran was dealt to the Twins from the Tampa Bay Rays last season. Heading into Tuesday, he had a 3.90 ERA across 25 starts with a career-best 158 strikeouts in 140.2 innings.

A 2018 fifth-round pick out of Los Angeles, California, Bradley had never posted a sub-4.00 ERA in a season before this year.

Minnesota is battling in a packed AL Wild Card race with six other teams. Entering Tuesday at 64-68, they trailed division rival Cleveland by two games for the final Wild Card spot.

Minnesota hasn’t reached the postseason since 2023, when Houston eliminated them 3-1 in the AL Division Series.