Twins 12, Pirates 4: Byron Buxton Trucks for the Cycle to Dump the Pirates

[Steven Trefz]

Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Box Score
Opener: Cole Sands 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (19 pitches, 14 strikes (74%))
Bulk Pitcher: Travis Adams 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (67 pitches, 45 strikes (67%))
Home Runs: Kody Clemens (12), Matt Wallner (10), Byron Buxton (21), Willi Castro (9)
Top 3 WPA: Clemens (.230), Sands (.098), Castro (.095)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 

The Minnesota Twins continued their quest to reach the .500 mark at the All-Star Break by continuing to take advantage of the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates. After earning a victory over ace Paul Skenes Friday night with one Trevor Larnach swing, the offense looked to make more noise with an opener and bulk pitching plan emerging on Saturday afternoon for the Twins. They needed to bring their A-Team today, and as the great Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith often said, "I love it when an opener plan and offensive approach come together."  

From Threat in the First, to Game Over in the Second
The Twins knew they were using Cole Sands in an opener role, but the Pirates didn't realize that they would be doing the same. They sent rookie righty Mike Burrows (1-2, 4.83 ERA) to the mound and he struggled from the get go. After Sands took care of the Pirates in order on seven pitches in the top of the first, Burrows needed 25 pitches in the bottom of the first to escape a two-on, nobody out jam. In the bottom of the second inning Burrows thought he had found his groove again, after inducing a lazy fly ball to Matt Wallner to start the inning. But he then walked Royce Lewis and hit Ty France with no control of his off-speed pitches to be found. In this two-on, one out situation, Burrows finally found the strike zone with a first-pitch curveball, and 389 feet later it was 3-0 Twins and Clemens had built one more piece of his Target Field Plaza statue, featuring this epic bat flip.

 

The unraveling of the rookie had just begun, as Buxton was next man up and he crushed a line drive over Cruz's head in dead center for a triple. Castro followed with the classic swinging bunt, and as Buxton scored easily Castro not only beat out the throw but induced a wild toss to advance to second. Last night's hero Larnach walked on five pitches, setting up Ryan Jeffers for the next Twins RBI. Jeffers delivered with a single through the hole into right to plate Castro, advance Larnach to second, and end Burrow's afternoon after giving up five runs and getting only four outs.

Genesis Cabrera came in to face Brooks Lee, who had been in a bit of an extra-base drought. Three pitches later the drought was over, Larnach had scored to make it 6-0, and Lee was reeling in the good vibes of a beautiful Twins afternoon.

Wallner came up with runners at second and third with still only one out, and he hit a missile at 102.5 mph right at first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who alertly threw home to nab Jeffers at the plate. After a Lewis groundout, the inning was finally over but the damage was done.

From Bulk Time to the Buck Truck
Adams came in for the top of the third inning to eat the middle innings for the Twins' staff, and he continued the "in order" momentum that Sands had started. In the bottom of the third, the Twins' bats also continued their momentum with a France walk and a Clemens rope single to put two on with nobody out. Buxton decided that today would not only be Buck Truck bobblehead day, but it would also be a cycle-watch, as he drilled a ground-rule double to left to score France and make it 7-0.

A Castro bloop single to center scored Clemens, and a Larnach sac fly scored Buxton. After failing to score nine runs in an entire week, suddenly the Twins were making runs almost annoying and distracting as the game entered blow-out land at 9-0 in the third.

Pirates Chip Away
Adams walked the lead-off man Andrew McCutchen in the top of the fourth, and after a Bryan Reynolds single the Pirates finally got on the board when Lewis allowed a potential double-play ball by Nick Gonzales to scoot under his glove, scoring McCutchen and advancing the runners to second and third. Adams settled down and escaped only allowing the unearned run. The Twins offense took the bottom of the fourth inning off, and when Adams took the mound again in the top of the fifth his first pitch curveball was well received by Jack Suwinski for a 108 mph solo homer to make it 9-2.

Wallner Injures the Upper Deck, and the Buck Truck Delivers
The Pirates put left-handed starter Andrew Haney in the game for the bottom of the sixth inning to get some pre-All-Star Break work in. With the game firmly in hand, Wallner got a chance to face a lefty and boy did he enjoy the 91 mph center-cut first pitch fastball that he received. 113 mph off the bat, and 434 feet up into the right field upper deck to make it 10-2 Twins.

Anthony Misiewicz entered in the top of the seventh for his second outing as a Twin and walked the lead-off man Cruz, who eventually scored on a Joey Bart single. The former Misiewicz, Joey Wentz, pitched for the Atlanta Braves today and pitched three scoreless against the Cardinals in a bulk role in case you were curious. But, in reality, no one cares...because Byron Buxton got one more chance at the cycle in the bottom of the seventh. And after only getting a single in the bottom of the fifth. Heaney thought he had him with an 0-2 curveball, but the Buck Truck delivered not only his first career cycle, but the first ever cycle at Target Field with a moonshot to the center field lawn to make history at 11-3.

How hot were the Twins today? Byron tried to give a curtain call to the packed Target Field faithful, and they were left wanting because Castro went and drilled a first pitch homer to the bullpen of his own to make it 12-3. One of the most amazing Target Field moments ever, and it got shortened by a home run!

Misiewicz walked the first man up Horwitz in the top of the eighth, and he came around to score as well. But even horrible relief pitching couldn't ruin this day for Twins fans. Everything that has been great about the first half of the season was on display Saturday afternoon, and there is hope again that it might continue into a buying stance at the deadline and a playoff push by the time the summer comes to an end. As we all know, in baseball hope floats like Carlos Correa's injury status: day-to-day. But oh what a day it was.

What’s Next?
The Twins look to sweep their way back to 48-48 as they head into the All-Star Break. They will rely on righty Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.08 ERA) to continue his recent hot streak. The Pirates send another hard-luck loser to the mound in righty Brad Keller (3-10, 3.58 ERA) and his 1.17 WHIP. Twins fans will hold their collective breath to see if Buxton will play or be bubble-wrapped to ensure All-Star participation, and if Correa will indeed return to the lineup as he hoped after tweaking his ankle Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews:

 

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Misiewicz	0	0	29	0	39	68
Adams	0	0	0	0	67	67
Topa	0	0	17	0	30	47
Coulombe	17	13	0	11	0	41
Jax	22	0	0	7	0	29
Sands	6	0	0	0	19	25
Durán	0	8	0	16	0	24
Varland	0	11	0	12	0	23
Stewart	12	7	0	2	0	21

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[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Geez...of all the games to miss because of a kid's birthday party! Sorry I couldn't see it but major, major props to Buck. MVP caliber season!

[RpR]

[JD-TWINS]

37 minutes ago, RpR said:

Big psychological opportunity on Sunday….. Sweep to .500 could help propel a positive attitude going forward after the break.

Excited to get Keaschall back in another 10-12 days. Hopefully, Matthews will be ready to at least go as an opener for 3-4 innings in next 10-12 days as well!

Need some runs to let SWR breathe on Sunday………he’s been sharp over last 3 starts!  🤞

[Doctor Gast]

A lot of offense today led by the Buck Truck! MVP! Twins have had trouble against the BP game & attempts to incorporate it. But today, Sands started us off well in a rare BP game. Hope they have figured it out & use more long relief. Adams didn't look that great but got it done in probably his 1st MLB win. Congrats.

[Dman]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Big psychological opportunity on Sunday….. Sweep to .500 could help propel a positive attitude going forward after the break.

 

Gotta agree. if they get back to 500 it's a different season again.  Right now they are only three games back of the last wild card spot.  After the break they play Colorado the Dodgers then the Nat's and Boston the last three games before the trade deadline. 

Unless they turn back into their old selves they will be within striking distance of a wild card spot. It's not looking like they will be seller's playing 6 games against the two worst two team's in the Notational league.  If they take even just one game from the Dodgers they should be right there when they face Boston going into the deadline.

I like to think of myself as pragmatic rather than negative, but after losing two out of three to the Marlins and staring down the Rays and Cubs who were both playing good baseball at the time.  It seemed possible they might lose the next 6 games and certainly lose those series.  Instead they won and if they can finish off the Pirate's and get to .500 that pretty much changes everything.

We'll see what happens as this game can change in a hurry with injuries and poor play, but they will be getting Pablo and Keaschal back and they have finally started hitting better which makes them a dangerous team.

Shout out to Buck on the cycle.  Guy has a been a beast all season.  I haven't been giving him the credit he deserves this year I guess primarily because he gets injured so much you just never know where he'll be at.  I believe by OPS he is 3rd highest in the league right now.  Truly a super star player.  I have always loved that he wanted to stay in Minnesota.  Not many players would have done the type of deal he did to stay.  Very happy to see him having this kind of success and stamping his name as one of the best to play the game.

[mikelink45]

Great game - besides Buxton really showing off his all-star status, Castro had another excellent game and I really do not want to lose him.  And Anthony Misiewicz  pitched like the DFA pickups usually do. 

 

[jmlease1]

Fun game today. Buxton was awesome, and I love seeing it. He's one of the most exciting baseball player's I've watched and I'm so glad he's having a healthy season and kicking butt.

Interesting pitching performance today; Sands was quite good as the opener and seems to be finding his groove again. He'd been a little inconsistent this season and they'd kind of banished him from the higher leverage roles, but it looks like he's getting himself back on track. Adams...looks like a long man. He did better than his first outing, but against a much weaker lineup. But he did what we needed today, which was get 3-4 solid innings, and he put up 4 without giving up too much. And we finished it off without needed any of the higher leverage arms. I'll take that when the offense steps up big.

And the offense got it done for sure. Nice to see the ball flying out of the yard and some crooked numbers going up in the box score.

Won the series, let's go get a sweep!

To quote the immortal Eppy Calvin "Nuke" Laloush: "I looooove winning, man! You know? Like, it beats losing?!?"

[DocBauer]

How crazy good is Buxton healthy? And on his bobblehead day he goes 5 for 5 and hits for the cycle! And this just days before he goes back home to Georgia for the All Star Game and participates in the HR derby with his son ad his personal Bat Boy.

Hard to make this stuff up.

I was generally impressed by Adams today. He doesn't seem to throw anything that's particularly nasty, but he mixed his pitches well and was around the zone. Threw a couple that really painted a corner or backdoored a couple batters. Even managed to K 3 in 4 innings this time. He makes for a really nice 8th man if he can keep this up.

Every time I think Clemens might just be done and easily replaced, he makes a solid play in thr field, and/or sends a bomb out of the part.

Good win! Go Twins! Get the sweep on Sunday and get to .500.

[USAFChief]

That's pretty neat.

[Vanimal46]

5 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

That's pretty neat.

[Blyleven2011]

Two great wins in arow , beating skenes was nerve wracking  2-1 , but the team pulled together as a group and won it ...

Today a double digit win , early scoring with Clemens clutch 3 run homerun for a crooked number inning , they added on the next inning as well and didn't quit there and added a few extra runs in later innings ...

Everyone participated in this win but buxtons 5 for 5 day and it includes hitting for the cycle is definitely Kirby Puckett flashback memories ...

14 hits for the offense was sure a welcomed surprise  ...

Sands 2 innings , Adam's 4 innings , dfa pitcher 1 1/3rd inning and 2 runs for mop up , topa finished with 1 2/3rd innings and the twins had a 12 - 4 win , pitching only gave up 6 hits 

Game ball buxton  , honorable mention , Clemens and Adam's  ... 

I didn't see Adam's pitch his first game , was his second game about the same or better  , I'd appreciate a feedback on Adam's ...

[Steven Trefz]

3 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Two great wins in arow , beating skenes was nerve wracking  2-1 , but the team pulled together as a group and won it ...

Today a double digit win , early scoring with Clemens clutch 3 run homerun for a crooked number inning , they added on the next inning as well and didn't quit there and added a few extra runs in later innings ...

Everyone participated in this win but buxtons 5 for 5 day and it includes hitting for the cycle is definitely Kirby Puckett flashback memories ...

14 hits for the offense was sure a welcomed surprise  ...

Sands 2 innings , Adam's 4 innings , dfa pitcher 1 1/3rd inning and 2 runs for mop up , topa finished with 1 2/3rd innings and the twins had a 12 - 4 win , pitching only gave up 6 hits 

Game ball buxton  , honorable mention , Clemens and Adam's  ... 

I didn't see Adam's pitch his first game , was his second game about the same or better  , I'd appreciate a feedback on Adam's ...

Adams looked wayyyyyy more comfortable this time around, as a six run lead will do for a person.

Against Tampa he gave up five runs over four innings. Nine hits. Much harder contact.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

The thrill of victory. Such a fun Buck Truck Bobblehead game ! You can't make this stuff up. Buck is amazing. Makes us proud to be Twins' fans. Maybe now NYCTK will pull for the Twins as his "primary team".

[tarheeltwinsfan]

18 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Two great wins in arow , beating skenes was nerve wracking  2-1 , but the team pulled together as a group and won it ...

Today a double digit win , early scoring with Clemens clutch 3 run homerun for a crooked number inning , they added on the next inning as well and didn't quit there and added a few extra runs in later innings ...

Everyone participated in this win but buxtons 5 for 5 day and it includes hitting for the cycle is definitely Kirby Puckett flashback memories ...

14 hits for the offense was sure a welcomed surprise  ...

Sands 2 innings , Adam's 4 innings , dfa pitcher 1 1/3rd inning and 2 runs for mop up , topa finished with 1 2/3rd innings and the twins had a 12 - 4 win , pitching only gave up 6 hits 

Game ball buxton  , honorable mention , Clemens and Adam's  ... 

I didn't see Adam's pitch his first game , was his second game about the same or better  , I'd appreciate a feedback on Adam's ...

So far in the two games Adams has pitched, he looked like he was an average AAA pitcher, considering his second major league game was against a AAA team (the Pirates). 

[David HK]

Wow-  this season has been great to watch for Byron Buxton.  So far we've finally gotten a glimpse of what could have been without the devastating string of injuries.  To get the cycle on his bobble-head day!! What a gas!

The Adams kid got the job done, too, but what did he do before the game?  Did he sit in a barber chair and just tell the guy, "I want you to eff-up my hair as much as possible?" LOLs 🤣😅😂

[chinmusic]

When the Twins started off the season 7-15, my rationale was even if it takes them 100 games to reach .500,  there's still hope. There is definitely still hope,

It's absolutely amazing that after more than a decade of setbacks, Buxton is having a season like this! Doesn't he have incentive bonus clauses in his contract? 

 

[Danchat]

16 minutes ago, chinmusic said:

When the Twins started off the season 7-15, my rationale was even if it takes them 100 games to reach .500,  there's still hope. There is definitely still hope,

It's absolutely amazing that after more than a decade of setbacks, Buxton is having a season like this! Doesn't he have incentive bonus clauses in his contract? 

 

These are the incentives in his contract according to Spotrac:

• Annual MVP Bonuses:
  1st: $8M
  2nd: $7M
  3rd: $6M
  4th: $5M
  5th: $4M
  6th-10th: $3M
• Plate Appearances
  $500,000 each for 502, 533, 567, 600, 625

[big dog]

15 minutes ago, Danchat said:

These are the incentives in his contract according to Spotrac:

• Annual MVP Bonuses:
  1st: $8M
  2nd: $7M
  3rd: $6M
  4th: $5M
  5th: $4M
  6th-10th: $3M
• Plate Appearances
  $500,000 each for 502, 533, 567, 600, 625

MVP might be tough, but let's hope he gets another $6-7 million plus $2 million for plate appearances!

[IndianaTwin]

3 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

Geez...of all the games to miss because of a kid's birthday party! Sorry I couldn't see it but major, major props to Buck. MVP caliber season!

Don't know how many kids you have, but you need more. And start celebrating half-birthdays as well.

(And if it wasn't your own kid, you need more friends with kids.)

[JD-TWINS]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

 

Gotta agree. if they get back to 500 it's a different season again.  Right now they are only three games back of the last wild card spot.  After the break they play Colorado the Dodgers then the Nat's and Boston the last three games before the trade deadline. 

Unless they turn back into their old selves they will be withing striking distance of a wild card spot. It's not looking like they will be seller's playing 6 games against the two worst two team's in the Notational league.  If they take even just one game from the Dodgers they should be right there when they face Boston going into the deadline.

I like to think of myself as pragmatic rather than negative, but after losing two out of three to the Marlins and staring down the Rays and Cubs who were both playing good baseball at the time.  It seemed possible they might lose the next 6 games and certainly lose those series.  Instead they won and if they can finish off the Pirate's and get to .500 that pretty much changes everything.

We'll see what happens as this game can change in a hurry with injuries and poor play, but they will be getting Pablo and Keaschal back and they have finally started hitting better which makes them a dangerous team.

Shout out to Buck on the cycle.  Guy has a been a beast all season.  I haven't given him the credit he deserves this year I guess primarily because he gets injured so much you just never know where he'll be at.  I believe by OPS he is 3rd highest in the league right now.  Truly a super star player.  I have always loved that he wanted to stay in Minnesota.  Not many players would have done the type of deal he did to stay.  Very happy to see him having this kind of success and stamping his name as one of the best to play the game.

Buxton, through today ……38 XBH of which 21 are HR’s. .286 BA. ….. over .350 OBP ……145ish OPS+.

Still a very good CF. If he stays healthy he can have one of the best seasons in Team History for an outfielder (Puckett - Oliva - Hunter - Mack - Bostock - Cuddyer…….etc.) The guy deserves fans support because he’s finally playing up to his capabilities. Wish him well in Atlanta!!

[DJL44]

It was a bit weird to see Genesis Cabrera entering in the middle innings. A guy named Genesis should clearly be a starter. If he's going to work in relief he needs to change his name to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.

[S Bart]

Buxton hitting through the cycle brought me back to a date in my memory almost 40 years ago. It was August 1, 1986, and I was fortunate to be in attendance to watch Kirby Puckett accomplish the feat in the Metrodome. Additionally, a BIG bonus was watching Bert toss his 3,000th strikeout.

Buck, Kirby is giving you thumbs up from above along with that unforgettable big smile.

[David HK]

3 hours ago, Danchat said:

These are the incentives in his contract according to Spotrac:

• Annual MVP Bonuses:
  1st: $8M
  2nd: $7M
  3rd: $6M
  4th: $5M
  5th: $4M
  6th-10th: $3M
• Plate Appearances
  $500,000 each for 502, 533, 567, 600, 625

What a coincidence!  Those are the same incentives in my school contract, except my plate appearances are at lunch!  😅

[JADBP]

Wow, shades of Kirby Puckett at Target Field!  Amazing day for an electric All Star!

Equally amazing was that Rocco almost pulled Buxton in the 7th inning just before his majestic HR.  The bench coaches had to stop him from doing so, reminding him that Buck was one swing away from the cycle!  

An inane Rocco thought process made even more astonishing when you realize how disconnected from the game Rocco was.  What game was he watching?  There wee 25,964 fans who knew the cycle was in play, but Rocco doesn’t see that and he’s gonna pull Buck?  Really?  

He admitted this in his post game interview!!  Geez,  it exactly endearing PR to admit such stupidity. 

Can you imagine how the fans, the team, the media and Buck would have reacted if he had pulled Buck in the 7th? Wowza!!

[GNess]

Buxton wow! Great to see him dominating games in multiple phases. Just a touch bittersweet to consider what his career could have been had he stayed relatively healthy.

[JD-TWINS]

11 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Two great wins in arow , beating skenes was nerve wracking  2-1 , but the team pulled together as a group and won it ...

Today a double digit win , early scoring with Clemens clutch 3 run homerun for a crooked number inning , they added on the next inning as well and didn't quit there and added a few extra runs in later innings ...

Everyone participated in this win but buxtons 5 for 5 day and it includes hitting for the cycle is definitely Kirby Puckett flashback memories ...

14 hits for the offense was sure a welcomed surprise  ...

Sands 2 innings , Adam's 4 innings , dfa pitcher 1 1/3rd inning and 2 runs for mop up , topa finished with 1 2/3rd innings and the twins had a 12 - 4 win , pitching only gave up 6 hits 

Game ball buxton  , honorable mention , Clemens and Adam's  ... 

I didn't see Adam's pitch his first game , was his second game about the same or better  , I'd appreciate a feedback on Adam's ...

Adam’s gave up 5 runs in 4 innings his first time out……run(s) every inning ……his stuff didn’t look like MLB stuff to me. Saturday, honestly, he was probably more relaxed and he was facing a line-up in the midst of losing its 8th game in a row……not exactly the ‘27 Yanks! He needs another outing to tip the scales one way or the other. “Stuff” doesn’t vault forward in a week or two so, I personally, do not have high hopes.

[JD-TWINS]

5 hours ago, JADBP said:

Wow, shades of Kirby Puckett at Target Field!  Amazing day for an electric All Star!

Equally amazing was that Rocco almost pulled Buxton in the 7th inning just before his majestic HR.  The bench coaches had to stop him from doing so, reminding him that Buck was one swing away from the cycle!  

An inane Rocco thought process made even more astonishing when you realize how disconnected from the game Rocco was.  What game was he watching?  There wee 25,964 fans who knew the cycle was in play, but Rocco doesn’t see that and he’s gonna pull Buck?  Really?  

He admitted this in his post game interview!!  Geez,  it exactly endearing PR to admit such stupidity. 

Can you imagine how the fans, the team, the media and Buck would have reacted if he had pulled Buck in the 7th? Wowza!!

Baldelli is thinking about getting wins today and going forward. If pulling Buxton gets him a touch of rest to have him more fresh on Sunday & so he might be more fresh in Atlanta …..he’s going to do/consider. It would have been messed up in this case but I can see why, a Manager, might miss the details on the cycle …….that’s one of the reasons there are 3-6 other coaches in the dugout. He’s human & trying to do his job - his job isn’t pleasing the crowd, no matter how many here think that should be a big consideration.

[Whitey333]

Great game Byron!!  Nice win Twins against a very bad team.  Let's go for the sweep on Sunday.  I hope Rocco never forgets there are fans in the stands.  Im a little concerned what the lineup may look like today.  When possible rest your players during road games not at home where people pay good money to watch their star players.  Go Twins!

[JDubs]

Lost in all of this is I think the Twins got a guy on base in almost every conceivable way in the second. There was a hit batter, a walk, a single, a double, a triple, and a homer. Other than a strikeout/passed ball, not sure there was any other way left to get a guy on.