Nine pitches, nine strikes and into the record books went Minnesota Twins starter Taj Bradley.
Bradley became the first pitcher in Twins franchise history to throw an immaculate inning in the fifth inning of the team’s 4-2 loss to the Athletics on Tuesday night at Sutter Health Park.
The 25-year-old faced the A’s Nos. 8, 9 and 1 hitters and retired them in dominant fashion. Bradley started off left fielder Carlos Cortes with a 96 mph fastball for strike one. He fired another 96 mph fastball, one that Cortes fouled off for strike two.
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Bradley then fired a nasty 92 mph splitter that fell off the table to generate a swing-and-miss from Cortes for strike three.
The Twins starter then started off Athletics catcher Brian Serven with a curveball below the zone that he swung through for strike one. Bradley then went back to the fastball, blowing a 98 mph heater past a swinging Serven for strike two.
Bradley then snapped off another curveball, this one in the dirt. Serven was unable to stop his swing in time and was retired for the second out of the inning.
Bradley, just three more strikes away from history, threw a first-pitch curveball that clipped the inside corner of the zone for a strike to center fielder Henry Bolte. Bradley’s 0-1 pitch was a dastardly splitter that started off the plate before hitting the outer half for strike two.
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For the final pitch of the inning, Bradley dotted a 100-mph fastball on the bottom of the zone, completely freezing Bolte for the third strikeout.
Catcher Victor Caratini knew what was at stake when he called the final pitch of Bradley’s inning.
“On the last pitch, that’s why I called a fastball, because I was like, ‘(Expletive) it, best pitch,'” Caratini said, via MLB.com. “He threw, like, 100 (mph) and the batter was frozen. That’s pretty nice.”
Unfortunately for Bradley, he took the loss in the start. In 6 2/3 innings, he gave up four runs on seven hits and one walk despite striking out 11 hitters. His 11 strikeouts tied Bradley’s career-high.
Bradley is in the midst of a strong season, as he is 9-6 with a 3.97 ERA in 147 1/3 innings pitched with 169 strikeouts.
The Twins (64-69) will look to bounce back from the loss when they play the Athletics (52-81) in the rubber match of their three-game series on Wednesday at 9:05 p.m. ET.
