Clemens Drives In 3 as Twins Sweep Braves With 6-4 Win

Kody Clemens and Brooks Lee each had RBI singles in the seventh inning as the Minnesota Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.

Clemens drove in three runs on the night, and Kaelen Culpepper added three hits for Minnesota.

With the game tied at 4, Josh Bell doubled off Victor Mederos (2-1) with one out in the seventh. Clemens followed with an RBI single against Dylan Lee, and Brooks Lee singled two batters later to bring Clemens home.

Yoendrys Gómez earned his third save in as many games and his 20th of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. A.J. Minter (2-2) recorded the final two outs of the seventh, and Jeff Hoffman struck out three in the eighth.

Ronald Acuña Jr., Lane Thomas and Ozzie Albies drove in runs for Atlanta, which has scored 15 runs while losing five of its last six games, including 4-2 on Monday and 4-1 on Tuesday. The Braves are 8 for 43 with runners in scoring position over that stretch. Manager Walt Weiss was ejected for arguing a check-swing call in the eighth.

AJ Smith-Shawver, recalled Tuesday from Triple-A Gwinnett, made his second start of the season for Atlanta, allowing five hits and four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, including a two-run double by Clemens during a three-run Twins fifth that put Minnesota up 4-1.

Atlanta answered with three straight singles to open the sixth against Kody Funderburk, with each runner scoring — the last on a Tommy Nance balk — to tie the game at 4.

Twins starter Taj Bradley, seeking his first win in seven starts, allowed two hits and one run over five innings while striking out seven, though he needed at least 20 pitches in each of his final three innings.

The Braves send RHP Grant Holmes (7-5, 3.82 ERA) to the mound Thursday in Chicago against White Sox LHP Anthony Kay (9-5, 4.01). The Twins open a three-game series Friday in San Diego with LHP Connor Prielipp (3-6, 5.34) starting; the Padres have not announced their starter.