MIN 3, TOR 2: Buxton Blasts Walk-Off HR

Snapshot (chart via Fangraphs)

Might as well get right to it, here’s video of the walk-off homer:

https://twitter.com/TwinsHighlights/status/908541786573881345

I think these guys are going to need some more Dubble Bubble. What a moment for Buxton. This is exactly the kind of stuff that makes being a fan so much fun. We’ve watched this young man endure a lot of difficulties and make countless adjustments. All those struggles make a moment like that all the more sweet.

Jorge Polanco drove in the Twins first two runs with a bases-loaded single in the fifth inning. Jose Berrios held the Blue Jays to one run on five hits over 5.2 innings. He walked four batters and had five strikeouts. Buddy Boshers (0.1 IP), Alan Busenitz (0.1), Trevor Hildenberger (1.0 IP) and Taylor Rogers (0.2 IP) combined for 2.1 shutout innings. Hildy struck out all three men he faced.

Here’s where we get to the daily "complain about bunting" section of the recap. Seems like I can’t get through one of these things without bringing up the “b” word.

With the Twins leading 2-1, Buxton opened the eighth inning by drawing a walk. Eddie Rosario laid down a sac bunt, but Toronto committed a throwing error that allowed Rosie to reach safely. With two on and nobody out, Kennys Vargas was due up.

Given that Rosario bunted with a runner on first and no out, this seemed like a gimme that Paul Molitor would be bunting with two on and no outs. Zack Granite, among others, was available off the bench if needed. Instead, Vargas hit into a double play.

If you’ve been keeping up with the game recaps, you know I’m not a fan of bunting. But there definitely are situations in which it makes more sense than others. Having an opportunity to get a man on third base with one out in the eighth inning of a one-run game is probably among the strongest arguments one could make for bunting. And we know Molitor LOVES bunting, so it’s especially odd that wasn’t the play there.

It almost feels like Molitor is managing just by his gut, because there doesn’t seem to be any logic to why you’d have Rosario bunt, but not the next batter. There's also an argument to be made that they should’ve just had Buxton attempt to steal second in the first place. He is 25-for-26 on stolen base attempts this year.

Anyway, the Twins did not score that inning. Belisle blew the save in the next half inning and it was feeling like that was huge blunder. Thank goodness Buxton delivered and just made that whole fiasco something we can have fun bantering about as opposed to having a discussion that would give the excellent moderators here (thanks for everything, by the way) a whole lotta cleanup work.

AL Wild Card Standings

Cleveland will never lose a game ever again. I don’t wanna talk about it.

WC1: Yankees 80-66 (+3.0)

WC2: Twins 77-69

Angels 74-72 (-3.0)

Seattle 74-73 (-3.5)

Postgame With Buxton

https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/908538138515070978

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Looking Ahead

Fri: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Blue Jays (J.A. Happ), 7:10 pm CT

Sat: Twins (Adalberto Mejia) vs. Blue Jays (Marco Estrada), 6:10 pm CT

Sun: Twins (Kyle Gibson) vs. Blue Jays (Joe Biagini), 1:10 pm CT

Looking Back

MIN 3, SDP 1: Rosario Hits Walk-Off HR in 10th Inning

MIN 16, SDP 0: MIN 16, SDP 0: Twins Hit 7 HRs, Set New Record

KC 11, MIN 3: Big Dud from Big Sexy & Co.