The Minnesota Twins opened a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on September 17 with Taj Bradley on the mound, and the first pitch was set for 8:38 p.m. CT at Angel Stadium. The game was scheduled to be shown on TwinsTV.
For the Twins, the timing is what makes Twins vs Angels matter now. The final week of the season leaves little room for wasted innings, and a road series like this can still shape how tight the postseason chase feels by the end of the week. Bradley brought an 11-6 record and a 3.81 ERA into the start, while his career work against the Angels looked even sharper: a 2.95 ERA with 17 strikeouts and five walks in 18 1/3 innings.
Luke Keashall was back in the lineup after being on fire in the series against the Yankees, and the Twins have leaned on him as an offensive tablesetter. That gives Minnesota a different look as it tries to keep pressure on the rest of the field, with Bradley starting the opener and the club trying to get the series off to a clean start.
The matchup also carried a wrinkle that did not fit the easy script. Walbert Ureña was scheduled to start for the Angels, and despite Los Angeles being described as one of the league’s worst teams, Ureña had gone 9-10 with a 2.88 ERA and had been one of the best young starters in baseball this season. It was his first time facing the Twins, which added another layer to a game that looked routine only on the surface.
Mike Trout had also been a problem for Bradley, going 5-for-6 against him with a walk and an RBI. That is the kind of detail that can turn a modest series opener into a useful early test, because Minnesota does not need a perfect night here so much as a clean one. If the Twins handle the first game, the rest of the four-game series becomes a chance to keep their postseason hunt alive a little longer.
