Bell's Homer, Jeffers' Double Lift Twins Past Braves 4-1
Josh Bell's early home run and Ryan Jeffers' eighth-inning double powered Minnesota to a series lead over Atlanta.
Josh Bell hit a two-run homer and Ryan Jeffers drove in Minnesota's other two runs as the Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Bell sent his 17th home run of the season over the right-center field wall in the first inning, giving the Twins an early 2-0 lead.
Jeffers broke the game open with a two-run double in the eighth inning that scored Kaelen Culpepper and Byron Buxton, sealing the win and giving Minnesota the first two games of the three-game series.
Twins starter Zebby Matthews (7-8) allowed one run on five hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out four. Yoendrys Gómez closed things out with a scoreless ninth for his 19th save of the season.
Atlanta's lone run came in the sixth inning when Drake Baldwin homered to left-center field.
Braves starter Tyler Mahle (4-10) worked 6 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on six hits. Relievers Dylan Dodd and Didier Fuentes each allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
The two teams close out the series Wednesday, with Atlanta's AJ Smith-Shawver (0-0, 4.15 ERA) facing Minnesota's Taj Bradley (9-5, 3.98 ERA).
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
