Twins 8, Blue Jays 2: Twins go Road Warriors on Mad Max

TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 12: Tristan Gray #4 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates at the plate with Matt Wallner #38 after hitting a three-run home run in the second inning of their MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on April 12, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) | Getty Images As the game thread intro indicated today, the Minnesota Twins historically do not fare well against the previous year’s American League champions. Fortunately, they were able to flip the script this afternoon against veteran starter Max Scherzer and take the rubber match in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

Twins SP Taj Bradley was extremely shaky in the first inning—unable to find his command and leaving numerous pitches in the fat part of the plate. Fortunately, a successful challenge from his C Victor Caratini and a DP turned behind him let him hop off the mound only surrendering one Blue Jays run (a Daulton Varsho single scoring Ernie Clement). The offense put traffic on the base paths (Josh Bell BB, Matt Wallner HBP) immediately in T2, then Tristan Gray allowed them to jog home after crushing a 396-foot dong off Scherzer!!

For some fun context, Gray was 12 years old when Scherzer was debuting in MLB. Kody Clemens was also 12 years of age when Mad Max hit the scene—and he also homered off the old man in T3! Not content to only let the unexpected young guys contribute, a Wallner RBI single and a Caratini sac fly chased Scherzer to the showers before he could complete the third inning.

Max’s replacement Joe Mantiply fared similarly—plunking Gray and then seeing Brooks Lee crank a 2-run double down the LF line. Add all this up and the visitors finished T3 up 8-1 over the defending champs! Bradley wasn’t sharp this afternoon—not locating his breaking pitches anywhere near the strike zone.