BOSTON -- Right-hander
He struck out seven while surrendering one run on three hits and two walks.\n\nIt was Bradley’s first outing since May 5. He was inactive because of pectoralis muscle inflammation. Before Saturday’s game against Boston, Bradley called his mother, Ana Mosely, and told her that he had a lot of adrenaline in him because he was pitching in a historic ballpark like Fenway, and he was eager to get back on the mound.\n\nBradley didn’t lose a step during the first three innings, retiring eight of the first nine hitters that he faced. He even topped out at 100.3 mph on the radar gun. But Boston was able to get to him in the fourth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Ceddanne Rafaela doubled to right-center field, scoring Mickey Gasper before Willson Contreras was thrown out at the plate to end the threat.\n\n“\\[Bradley\\] was really good,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “He had a short rehab start, but the execution of his stuff \\[on Saturday\\] was as sharp as we’ve seen it. That’s really important when you come off the IL – to be able to go out and execute pitches right there. He suppressed contact really well and had some punchouts. Overall, I thought he was outstanding.”
Shelton may have said it best when describing Bradley the pitcher: he is growing up in front of everybody’s eyes. Bradley, now in his age-25 season, is a different pitcher for Minnesota than he was for the Rays. This year, he is taking diligent notes on opposing hitters and he often talks with Harry Welsh, the Major League coordinator of run prevention, to confirm the right way to get hitters out. Before joining the Twins, Bradley acknowledged that he never looked at scouting reports.\n\n“Harry has been helping me every night before my starts,” Bradley said. “We sit down and go over each hitter. I’ll write a report and see if I was right about it. If not, he’ll just give me some footnotes and we’ll get a game plan together. We take it into my bullpens, executing pitches with actual intent behind why I’m throwing stuff and when I’m throwing them.”\n\nWelsh said Bradley took the next step in becoming a quality pitcher. Besides taking notes, Bradley and Welsh simplify the game plan. Bradley is open minded when it comes to the nuances of pitching.
“It’s so much fun to watch him pitch,” Welsh said. “When he is out there on the mound, we have a really good chance of winning the game. He has done a great job. It’s fun to watch him prepare and take that preparation to the mound and execute his pitches.”\n\nAfter Bradley left the game, left-hander