MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Taj Bradley allowed one run and struck out 10 in seven innings, Kody Clemens had two hits and an RBI, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Bradley (8-3), who set a career best with 11 strikeouts in his last outing July 1 at Houston, had swing-and-miss stuff all night, registering a career-high 25 swinging strikes. He allowed three hits and walked none, winning for the third time in his last four starts.
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Minnesota Twins' Luke Keaschall breaks his bat resulting in a single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Joey Cantillo delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
Minnesota Twins' Kody Clemens celebrates hitting a single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley delivers during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
Andrew Morris pitched a perfect eighth inning, while Taylor Rogers and Yoendrys Gómez combined on a scoreless ninth for the Twins, who have won six of their last eight games
Rhys Hoskins homered for the Guardians, who lost their third in a row.
Joey Cantillo (7-4) pitched five innings, giving up two runs — both unearned — on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.
The Guardians opened the scoring in the second on Hoskins' solo home run. But the Twins scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the inning.
Clemens led off with a ground ball that skipped between second baseman Travis Bazzana's legs for an error. Ryan Kreidler followed with a chopper to shortstop that a charging Brayan Rocchio fielded cleanly. However, Rocchio's toss to second base was late and off-target, allowing Clemens to reach safely.
Luke Keaschall then hit a grounder to first baseman Kyle Manzardo, who looked to second base before flipping to Cantillo covering first. But the toss was too late to beat Keaschall, whose single loaded the bases. The Twins scored on Austin Martin's sacrifice fly and a two-out single by Brooks Lee to take a 2-1 lead.
With two outs in the seventh, Clemens lined a triple into the gap in left center field, scoring Josh Bell.
The Twins send LHP Connor Prielipp (2-5, 4.96 ERA) to the mound against Cleveland RHP Slade Cecconi (4-6, 4.44) on Wednesday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Minnesota Twins' Luke Keaschall breaks his bat resulting in a single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Joey Cantillo delivers during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
Minnesota Twins' Kody Clemens celebrates hitting a single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Taj Bradley delivers during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim)
ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice cannot have the names and personal contact information for every person who worked during the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
The Justice Department served a grand jury subpoena in April seeking the names and personal contact information of county employees and volunteer poll workers. President Donald Trump has long claimed without evidence that widespread voter fraud in Georgia's most populous county, a Democratic stronghold, cost him victory in the state in 2020.
Fulton County asked a judge to quash the subpoena, arguing it was meant to “target, harass and punish the President’s perceived political opponents” and that it was “grossly over broad and untethered to any reasonable need.”
“Given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure of the same, the Subpoena is unreasonable and must be quashed,” U.S. District Judge William Ray wrote in his ruling, calling the scope of the request “staggering.”
“We are proud of our efforts to push back against these improper demands that only serve to undermine confidence in our elections,” Fulton County Attorney Soo Jo said in a statement.
An email seeking comment was sent to the Justice Department.
While grand juries often work with federal prosecutors to investigate alleged crimes, “that does not give the DOJ the right to use the Grand Jury to do whatever the DOJ wants,” wrote Ray, who was nominated to the bench by Trump.
Even if the records sought by the Justice Department could help find people who worked for the county during the 2020 election who support the theory that the election was unfair, the information couldn't be used to charge anyone because the statute of limitations has passed, Ray wrote.
The subpoena came after the FBI in January served a search warrant at the Fulton County election hub and seized hundreds of boxes of ballots and other documents from the 2020 election. A federal judge in May denied the county's request to force the federal government to return the ballots.
The Justice Department argued in a court filing that the subpoena was the “next step in the normal investigative process” and that it seeks “records identifying persons with relevant knowledge.”
Kamal Ghali, a lawyer for the county, argued during a hearing in May that the subpoena “will chill participation by election workers” and that the statute of limitations for any of the alleged misconduct had already lapsed.
Justice Department lawyer William McComb argued that the statute of limitations issue is not relevant at the investigative stage.
“My point is, as we sit here now, we are not sure what charges can be brought. That's the whole point of the investigation,” he said.
The FBI is also using some 260 staffers across the country to help examine records in the Fulton County investigation, according to an agency memo.
The judge noted that the Justice Department had expressed concern about possible criminal actions in the years that followed the election. But he noted that the subpoena seeks information related to what happened during the 2020 election and its immediate aftermath.
“In these hyper-political times in which we currently live, there are sure to be some who disagree with this decision because they believe the allegations of fraud in the 2020 Election and believe that ‘light’ should be brought to those claims,” Ray wrote.
He added that nothing prevents continued investigation into those allegations by people who believe those claims — such as Congress or even the Justice Department — but the power of the grand jury, “which exists to investigate potential crimes and to bring viable indictments” cannot be used for that purpose. Otherwise, anyone in power could use the grand jury process to subpoena personal information of citizens “with no legitimate law enforcement purpose,” he wrote.
“Thus, everyone, whether you support the President or you do not, or whether you believe the 2020 Election was fair or believe that it was not, should be concerned about the DOJ’s ability to utilize the power of the Grand Jury to appropriate your private information without a legitimate purpose,” Ray wrote.
The judge also agreed that providing the subpoenaed information could make it harder for Fulton County to recruit election workers. Those who help run elections “should be valued and are necessary for successful elections in Fulton County going forward,” he wrote.
FILE - Stickers sit on a table inside a polling place, Nov. 5, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
