Dongs, taters, bombs, dingers, moonshots, in play run(s). Whatever you call them, there’s few things better than when your favorite team hits them and worse than when they give them up. In this case, the good guys hit one more than their oppenents and a couple of them was all it took to take home a win.
Things got off to a quick start for the Twins. After a leadoff double by Austin Martin, Texas starter McKenzie Gore got Byron Buxton and Kody Clemens, but a well-earned walk from rejuvenated Royce Lewis let Josh Bell bang a three-run dong and take an early lead. With rookie Mike Paredes on the mound, an early cushion was much appreciated.
Gore settled in from there, retiring 14 of the next 15 Minnesota batters before a Byron Buxton bomb broke the dry spell. And I’ll use this opportunity to take a brief detour into “Why Byron Buxton is the Best.” Buxton now has 23 home runs, third in all of baseball and trailing only Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Schwarber, two of the best home run hitters in the league over the past decade. Buxton has also done it in 30 fewer PAs than Schwarber and 40 fewer than Alvarez. Famously, Alvarez and Schwarber play almost exclusively at DH while Buxton is still one of the best defenders and base runners in baseball at age 32. Since the start of 2024, Buck’s .554 slugging percentage is fourth in baseball among qualified batters, trailing only Alvarez and the two reigning back-to-back MVPs, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.
Buxton has always been one of the most valuable players in MLB on a rate basis but never put it all together due to his injuries. But somehow in his 30s, Buxton is healthier than ever and is straight up one of the best power hitters in baseball without any caveats. He’s a surefire All-Star starter and STILL one of the most exciting players to watch. The Twins have been disappointing the past three years, but none of that is because of their star.
Meanwhile, Paredes had his best outing of his young career. He was nearly perfect his first time through the order with a hit batter and a single as the only base runners. Second time through was a little rougher. The first pitch Paredes threw was a cutter down the heart of the plate to Joc Pederson who promptly deposited that ball into the right field bleachers, but those were the only runs allowed on the night. I don’t know if Paredes has a real future in the league (he gave up eight hard-hit balls in under five innings which is not a winning formula for a guy with lackluster stuff) but I’ll reiterate what I said in the game thread: he’s kept the Twins in games in a stretch when pitchers much more accomplished than him haven’t been able to, and that’s worth something.
Even rarer than a solid outing from a 12th-string starting pitcher: the Twins’ bullpen had an easy night. Taylor Rogers, Andrew Morris, Eric Orze, and Yoendrys Gomez combined pitch 4.1 innings of scoreless ball, allowing only a single baserunner on a two-out single. Even better news: Mick Abel is on track to return next week and Kendry Rojas shortly thereafter. May we do everything in our power to have one of the worst bullpens in the game avoid bullpen games going forward. Amen.
STUDS
- Josh Bell: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI
- Byron Buxton: 23rd HR of the season, putting him one behind the league lead
- Mike Paredes and the Bullpen Boyz: 9 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 7 K
DUDS
- Milk Duds, Jared Dudley, Dudley Dursley all have duds but none of them are on the Twins AKA NO DUDS TWINS WIN!!
