In the midst of a slump, especially at the plate, the Braves were hoping that Tyler Mahle could delicer another strong start to help the Braves tie up the series in Minneapolis.
There were 5 batted balls over 100 MPH across both teams in the first inning, but two of the three against Mahle produced two runs, on a loud Jeffers double and a mammoth Bell homer. After that, Mahle generally struggled to miss bats, but didn’t give up much loud contact and was extremely efficient, needing only 76 pitches to complete 6.2 innings, keeping the Twins at just the 2 runs with a little help from Dylan Dodd to strand a batter in the seventh. Only 3 strikeouts and 8 whiffs are well off of Mahle’s previous two outings, but
The offense was characteristically quiet with very few baserunners until a Drake Baldwin homer broke the shutout in the sixth.
A Baldwin bomb puts us on the board! 💥 pic.twitter.com/YPjWsxNLp4
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 19, 2026
Harris and Albies singled with two outs in the frame as well, but the Braves were unable to tie up the game, as the Twins went to their bullpen. The offense had nothing going in the seventh or eighth and Dylan Dodd gave way to Didier Fuentes in the eighth with a runner on first. Didier left a couple of pitches over the heart of the plate and the Twins took them for a single and a double, tacking on a big two insurance runs for a 4-1 lead heading into the ninth. Michael Harris led off the ninth with a double, but the Braves were unable to do anything else in the inning.
This continues a string of games during which the offense has generally not been good enough. Other than Matt Olson, none of their hitters are performing particularly up to their standards at the moment and the team is just not playing well. They built quite a cushion early in the season, but this next stretch of games is one that could turn that around quickly if they don’t step it up. Join us tomorrow at 1:40 PM ET, as the Braves look to salvage this series in the first of four consecutive day games.