Taj Bradley gets off to a rough start in Minnesota Twins debut

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Taj Bradley gets off to a rough start in Minnesota Twins debut

2025-08-25 05:51 Last Updated At：06:00

CHICAGO (AP) — Taj Bradley got off to a rough start in his first game with the Minnesota Twins after he was acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay.

The 24-year-old Bradley permitted seven runs and nine hits in five innings during Sunday's 8-0 loss at the Chicago White Sox. He struck out one and walked one.

Minnesota got Bradley (6-7) from Tampa Bay for reliever Griffin Jax as part of a dizzying trade deadline for the Twins. He had a 7.53 ERA in three starts for Triple-A St. Paul before joining the Twins.

Bradley allowed singles to each of his first four batters in his 68th major league start. After retiring Colson Montgomery on a flyball to right field, he gave up a two-run single by Edgar Quero that gave the White Sox a 3-0 lead.

Montgomery delivered the big blow off Bradley in a four-run second, sending a 423-foot shot to right for a two-run homer.

The right-hander finished strong, allowing one hit in his last three innings.

“If you're going to start out not throwing the ball the way you want, but then you find it, it gives you something to look towards and to be somewhat pleased about,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Overall, obviously the beginning of the outing, they plated some runs so it clearly wasn't all ideal.”

Bradley's final start with the Rays also was against the White Sox. He was tagged for four runs and four hits over 1 2/3 innings in a no-decision on July 23. He was optioned to Triple-A Durham following the rough outing.

Bradley took the mound a day after Mick Abel — another deadline acquisition — made his Twins debut. The 24-year-old Abel was charged with six runs and seven hits in three innings of a 7-3 loss to the White Sox.

To make room for Bradley on the active roster, the Twins designated right-hander Erasmo Ramírez for assignment.

Bradley was selected by Tampa Bay in the fifth round of the 2018 amateur draft. He broke into the majors in 2023, going 5-8 with a 5.59 ERA in 23 games with the Rays, including 21 starts.

He went 19-25 with a 4.70 ERA in 67 starts and two relief appearances with Tampa Bay before the trade to Minnesota.

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Another construction crane collapse in Thailand kills 2 people a day after deadly train derailment

NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.

The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.

The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.

There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.

“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”

At the site of Wednesday's train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.

Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.

The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.

Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.

The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.

Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.

A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.

Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday's accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.

The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building's collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.

Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai's president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand's Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.

The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.

Associated Press writers Wasamon Audjarint in Bangkok and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.