Twins Takeaways: Kody Clemens With 3 RBIs As the Twins Sweep the Braves

The Minnesota Twins have swept the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, winning the series finale by a score of 6-4, improving to 63-65 on the season.

Currently, the Twins are tied for the final AL Wild Card spot before the Texas Rangers play tonight against the Washington Nationals.

Ty Bradley’s Outing

Aug 19, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley (26) throws to the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Today served as a bounce-back outing for Bradly, who struggled last week against the Phillies in the Field of Dreams game. Against the first-place Braves, Bradley threw five innings, giving up just one run on an RBI single off the bat of Ronald Acũna Jr.

Bradley walked three in the outing, allowed two hits, and struck out seven. His stuff looked really crisp, especially early in the outing, when he retired the first six batters on 16 pitches.

It was noticeable that Bradley’s pitch usage was a bit different from his normal usage this season, with him using his splitter 22% of the time in the outing compared to 20.0% on the season.

Bradley used his fastball 48% of the time in the outing, compared to 46.5% on the season, with batters not recording a hit against that pitch on the day and racking up 19 swings and a 16% (3/19) whiff rate, according to Statcast.

Solid stuff in the outing today from Bradley

(Via @pitchprofiler) https://t.co/5sQ6yogVVF pic.twitter.com/1cinJThaqg
— Matthew Nethercott (@MattNethercott_) August 19, 2026

The change in pitch mix clearly helped Bradley in the outing and should be something to stay consistent with. Bradley looked in control most of the outing and kept hitters in check throughout the outing.

Twins Hot August Offense Continued

Aug 18, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins designated hitter Josh Bell (56) hits a two-run home run against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kody Clemens has been so good as of late for the Twins. On the day, Clemens was 2-4 with three RBIs in the win, including a seventh-inning RBI single that drove in the go-ahead run.

Clemens has been a clutch hitter for the Twins this season and came up big once again in a high-leverage spot. Add in his sparkling defense at both second base and left field today, and he was one of the biggest contributors to not just this win, but the series sweep as a whole.

If Clemens performs on both sides of the ball, he becomes one of the most important players for the Twins down the stretch.

“Yeah, I mean, I got a slider up. I didn't really get the barrel to it, but I don't care.” Clemens said on the field postgame. “It landed in the grass, and that's all that matters. So, just try to come through for my team, and it was a great win.”

The offense of late has been there for the Twins, with the team posting a 108 wRC+ in the month of August, according to FanGraphs.

Clemens has been struggling in the month of August, only posting a 54 wRC+, which is last on the team among qualified hitters. Given his performance in the series against the Braves, it seems like he could be heating up a bit.

“Two spots left on left. He gets the double, and then he gets the base hit.” Twins manager Derek Shelton said postgame of Clemens’ performance. “He continues to have really consistent at-bats for us throughout the year. He's just a baseball player. We look at the play he made the other night at second. He made the play in the gap last night to end the game, and I don't think you can say enough about just how he continues to take advantage of opportunities and step up.”

Kody Clemens with another RBI single, this time against Dylan Lee, where lefties were 8-for-67 against him this season.

5-4 #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/L6KOc3jw1v
— Matthew Nethercott (@MattNethercott_) August 19, 2026

Rookie Kaelen Culpepper had three hits in the outing for the first time in his career. He is now in the midst of a seven-game hit streak. His performance as a rookie has been impressive thus far, including hanging in at-bats against some of the best pitchers in the game.

As the season gets into the home stretch, the improvement of Culpepper will be as big a storyline as there is surrounding the Twins, given how his performance can impact a game.

“He continues to get better,” Shelton said postgame of Culpepper. “When I made the mound visit in the eighth, and I asked him, I said, ‘You ever had four hits in a major league game?’ And he's like, ‘Had four hits in a major league game? I was like, ‘Well, I dare you to do it.’ So, he continues to get more comfortable. … Offensively, this kid can hit, and I think we knew that when we drafted him.”

Josh Bell also continued his hot hitting in the game with a hustle double in the seventh inning with one-out, where he came around to score on the Clemens RBI single for the lead. Taking the extra base on the Braves outfield is a savvy play, and one that directly correlates to the Twins win today.

“I think the person you point out is Josh Bell and how big he was. I mean, the hustle double today to be the catalyst. But overall, I mean, everybody on our team contributed to this win or was part of being able to contribute,” Shelton praised.

Twins Fundamentals Present Question Mark

The Twins have been playing some really crisp and fundamental defense as of late. Not today. It was not as if the Twins racked up errors throughout the day; rather, some ill-advised throws, a balk, and other little things that need to be cleaned up a bit.

In the sixth inning that saw the Twins give back the three-run lead they had built a half inning prior, the biggest play in the inning came on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ozzie Albies that made it a one-run game. On the throw to the plate that was very off-line from Luke Keaschall, Lane Thomas tagged up to second base.

A sac fly makes it 4-3 Twins.

Some not-so-fundamental play this inning from the Twins, allowing the tying run to tag and advance to second base with one out.

Dubon is pinch hitting. Tommy Nance is coming in. https://t.co/7IrKKPUj8g pic.twitter.com/CnI0TJWeFs
— Matthew Nethercott (@MattNethercott_) August 19, 2026

Later in the inning, after a single, Tommy Nance balked in the tying run with one out as Mauricio Dubon was attempting to steal second base. Nance went on to strike out the next two batters, so without the balk or the overthrow that allowed the runner to advance to second base, the tying run might never have scored.

For the Twins, every game from here to the end of the season is important. The fundamentals need to be perfect to give their opponents 27 outs, and today the fundamentals were the difference.

The Braves are a team that, if you give them an extra base or an extra out, are more likely than not to take advantage. Those are the kinds of teams the Twins will face in October should they qualify.

What’s Next?

The Twins will have an off day on Thursday as the team travels tonight to the West Coast for six games, three against the Padres and three against the Athletics.

Friday, the Twins will kick off a three-game series in Southern California against the Padres, sending out the lefty Connor Prielipp (3-6, 5.34). The Padres have yet to announce their starter. First pitch from Petco Park will be at 8:40 PM CT on TwinsTV.

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