Taj Bradley strikes out seven versus Braves

Bradley also issued four free passes while striking out three batters in the contest. He served up a leadoff home run to Kyle Schwarber to open the game as part of a two-run opening inning, then Schwarber got him again for a two-run blast as part of a three-run fourth inning. He’ll try to put this one behind him and get back on track as he brings a 3.98 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and a 151/59 K/BB ratio (135 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s battle against the Braves.

Bradley gave up five hits, walked two and struck out seven. He worked into and out of trouble in the first inning as the first four batters reached before he retired the next three in order. Bradley allowed a two-run single to Brice Turang in the fourth inning with the bases-loaded and two outs. He kept the Brewers off the scoreboard otherwise. Bradley has recorded at least six strikeouts in eight of his last 11 starts. He has a 3.76 ERA. Bradley’s lined up to face the Phillies at home next week.

He gave up seven hits in all while walking four. Bradley put himself in an immediate hole by giving up a two-run double to Josh Naylor in the first inning. Despite the number of baserunners, he managed to hold the Mariners to just one run the rest of the way. After striking out 10 batters in his last outing, Bradley recorded a season-low two strikeouts in this one. He’ll try to get back in the win column next weekend against the Brewers.

Bradley blanked the Royals for the first five innings, but he gave up a pair in his sixth and final frame and appeared to be in line for a hard-luck loss. A Royce Lewis walk-off triple prevented that, but Bradley certainly pitched well enough to pick up a win while allowing three hits and three walks against the aforementioned punchouts. The 25-year-old has been outstanding in July, and he’s now the owner of a 3.65 ERA and 139/49 K/BB in his first full season in the Twin Cities. Bradley will get a chance to face the struggling Mariners’ lineup over the weekend in Seattle.

He struck out five and walked three; the only damage was a Patrick Bailey solo home run that was the game’s lone run until the eighth inning. Bradley was outdueled by Gavin Williams and left in line for the loss. Bradley averaged 97.5 mph with his fastball and touched 100, but didn’t get many whiffs with his arsenal -- just 16 percent of swings against him missed the ball. Bradley bounced back well from a disappointing start against the Cubs last time out and should be on the mixed-league start line against the depleted Royals next week.

Bradley surrendered a solo homer in the first, two runs on a single, a walk and a double in the second and two more runs on two walks, a single and a double in the third. If not for the free baserunners, it would have been a fine outing. As is, he took his first loss since June 9. Bradley fanned six. He’s 12th in the majors with 124 strikeouts but also tied for 14th with 43 walks. He’ll take a 3.85 ERA into his next start in Cleveland.

He’ll be followed by Taj Bradley on Saturday afternoon and Zebby Matthews on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The expectation is that Joe Ryan would then start on Monday against the Guardians in Cleveland. Ober is coming off of a decent first half where he registered a 4.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and a 51/19 K/BB ratio over 71 2/3 innings in his first 13 starts.

Bradley was outstanding again, and this makes back-to-back starts where the 25-year-old has struck out double-digit hitters. The only run allowed was a solo homer by Rhys Hoskins, and sans that, he had zero issue disposing of the Cleveland lineup while picking up his eighth victory of the season and lowering his ERA to 3.67. After going through a bit of a dip in the middle of June, Bradley has really looked the part, and he’ll get a chance to keep it going against the lowly Angels on Sunday.

This was the good version of Bradley. His velocity was up a bit and his fastball sat just above 98 mph and touched 100 mph a couple of times. With that, he had no fear challenging the Astros’ hitters with it in the zone. Apart from that, he had solid command of his secondaries. The Astros have a very right-handed heavy lineup and Bradley used his more slider-ish cutter breaking down and away against them. Also, he was mostly consistent with his splitter below the zone and even stole a few called strikes with it early in the count when he needed to. His 11 strikeouts matched a career-high and he now has a 3.86 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 38 walks through 88 2/3 innings this season. He’s lined up to face the Guardians next time out in his final outing before the All-Star break.

Bradley scattered just three hits and three walks on the evening. He shut the Rockies out through the first seven innings, then returned for the eighth where he allowed a pair of hits before turning the ball over to the bullpen — and both runners ultimately scored. The 25-year-old hurler got 14 swings and misses on 99 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 29 percent. He’ll see if he can replicate this strong effort and further improve upon his 3.98 ERA and 1.28 WHIP when he squares off against the Astros in Houston on Wednesday.