MIN 7, TOR 2: Buxton Hits 3 Homers, Twins Win Series at Toronto

Snapshot (win expectancy chart via Fangraphs)

Buxton had a pair of bunt hits in the first game of this series at Toronto that left a lot of people wondering why the heck he didn’t bunt more often. With how easy he made those hits look, it was a valid question. Well, here’s why.

Byron showed it all this weekend in Toronto. We already saw the speed. We already saw the defense. Sunday he flexed his muscles. This is the kinda stuff that made him the top prospect in all of baseball. There is nothing he can’t do on a baseball diamond.

https://twitter.com/TwinsHighlights/status/901915616759644160

Along with the trio of homers, Buxton also had an RBI single and stole his 24th base of the season. He now has both eight homers and eight stolen bases this month. Here’s hoping Buck isn’t a superstitious guy. The bat he used was especially designed for Player’s Weekend, so he’ll have to switch back to one of his normal sticks going forward.

Kyle Gibson had another encouraging start, limiting the Blue Jays to two runs over 6.2 innings. He gave up seven hits and a walk, but also struck out seven batters. Over his last two starts, Gibby has given up two runs over 13.2 innings and has 15 strikeouts.

Trevor Hildenberger (1.0 IP), Taylor Rogers (0.1 IP) and Matt Belisle (1.0 IP) combined to throw 2.1 perfect innings out of the bullpen to secure the series victory. Joe Mauer had a pair of hits, including a triple, and Jorge Polanco hit a couple doubles. Kennys Vargas also had two hits on the day and drove in a pair of runs. Max Kepler walked twice and Chris Gimenez was on base in two of his four plate appearances.

Standings

The Twins trail Cleveland by 6.5 games in the Central and have a 1.5 game advantage over both the Angels and Mariners for the second Wild Card spot.

Postgame With Buxton

https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/901907798698582016

Bullpen Usage

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

Looking Ahead

MON: OFF

Tue: Twins (Ervin Santana) vs. White Sox (James Shields), 7:10 pm CT

WED: Twins (TBD) vs. White Sox (Derek Holland), 7:10 pm CT

Looking Back

TOR 10, MIN 9: Sloppy 8th Inning Costs Twins in Comeback Effort

MIN 6, TOR 1: Buxton, Bartolo Get Twins Back to Winning Ways

CWS 5, MIN 1: Twins Drop Ugly Game, Series to White Sox