Bell strikes before Atlanta settles
Minnesota needed four batters to decide the shape of this game. Josh Bell drove a Tyler Mahle pitch over the right-center field wall in the first inning overnight, scoring Ryan Jeffers ahead of him, and the Twins never trailed on the way to a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves.
It was Bell’s 17th home run of the season and pushed him to 76 runs batted in, a total that ranks him among the more productive bats in a Minnesota lineup that has spent most of the summer scoring in fits and starts. Both of those runs came with two outs, which explains part of why Atlanta spent the rest of the night chasing.
Jeffers then did the closing work himself. His two-run double in the eighth brought home Kaelen Culpepper and Byron Buxton, stretching a one-run margin into something Atlanta could not answer in six outs.
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Matthews holds the middle innings
Zebby Matthews took the ball for Minnesota and gave up a single run on five hits across 5 2/3 innings, striking out four and moving to 7-8 on the year. Yoendrys Gomez handled a scoreless ninth for his 19th save, a number that already stands as one of the steadier figures in a bullpen that has been asked to protect narrow leads all season.
Atlanta’s only run came off the bat of Drake Baldwin, who homered to left-center in the sixth for his 63rd RBI. Mahle absorbed the loss and fell to 4-10 despite a respectable line of two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. Dylan Dodd and Didier Fuentes each conceded a run in 2/3 of an inning behind him, which is how a game that stayed close through six ended up looking one-sided on the scoreboard.
Two very different Augusts
The Twins outhit Atlanta 10-6 and now lead the three-game series 2-0, having taken the opener as well. That matters more for Minnesota than the standings suggest: at 62-65 they are still trying to finish above water, while Atlanta drops to 74-52 and remains firmly in the postseason picture.
The finale comes Wednesday, with Atlanta handing the ball to right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver, who carries a 4.15 earned run average, against Taj Bradley and his 9-5 record with a 3.98 ERA. A sweep would be Minnesota’s loudest statement of the month.
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