Josh Bell’s 1st-inning homer enough for Twins to beat Braves

Field Level Media

Josh Bell went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

Ryan Jeffers finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs for Minnesota, which won the second straight game in the series. The Twins will look to complete a three-game sweep Wednesday afternoon.

Drake Baldwin went 2-for-4 with a solo home run to lead Atlanta at the plate. Michael Harris II was 3-for-4 with two doubles, which marked the Braves’ only other extra-base hits.

Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (7-8) allowed one run on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four and won his third straight start.

Braves right-hander Tyler Mahle (4-10) took the hard-luck loss. He gave up two runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out three.

Twins closer Yoendrys Gomez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 19th save of the season and his second save in as many nights.

For the second game in a row, the Twins seized a lead in the first inning.

Mahle retired the first two hitters of the inning, but Jeffers kept the frame alive with a two-out double to right field. That set the stage for Bell, who hammered a 434-foot, two-run homer to right-center field in the next at-bat.

The blast marked Bell’s 17th homer of the season and his first in the past seven games. It also gave him 75 RBIs in a season for the first time since 2021.

The Braves cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the sixth. Baldwin led off the inning with a 383-foot solo shot to left-center field for his 21st homer.

Jeffers provided a pair of insurance runs for the Twins in the eighth. He stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and one out and delivered a two-run double to right-center to drive in Kaelen Culpepper and Byron Buxton.