Minneapolis – Byron Buxton rejoined the Minnesota Twins lineup in Seattle after they activated him off the IL on May 30, and he has done a bit of everything. He had his first-ever three-walk game, drove in five runs in Minnesota’s 10-4 victory over the A’s, and stole a couple of bases.
The only two things Buxton hadn’t done since coming off the 7-day concussion IL were hitting a home run and a highlight-reel catch that would draw fans out of their seats.
“You don’t make too many judgments or have too many different expectations when guys are just returning from that concussion list,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after Minnesota’s 6-2 win on Wednesday. “We said that at the time, and you say it, you always have to think that. You have to remain patient and just see how guys respond.”
Minnesota’s patience paid off. Buxton brought a .297/.386/.351 slash line with 11 RBI in nine games going into Wednesday night. However, he exceeded all expectations in the Twins’ win over the Texas Rangers, going 3-for-3 with a moon shot 479-foot home run to straight away center field, fell a triple short of the cycle, and had one of his most incredible catches of the season, preventing a few more runs from scoring on starter David Festa.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien crushed a ball that looked like it would almost certainly drop between Buxton and Willi Castro in left-center field. As he leaped off his feet with the wind on his back, Buxton kept the ball from landing anywhere outside his glove and brought the 18,000-plus fans at the ballpark to stand and give him thunderous applause.
“Obviously, it was in the middle of me and Willi,” said Buxton postgame. “It’s one of those plays where you have to be an athlete and do your job. I’m the center fielder. I knew Willi was there to back me up, so I took a chance.”
“He’s a hell of a runner,” said Castro postgame. “I know he’s one of the guys who has the most range in the outfield and his abilities. Like it got me by surprise when he was there, I thought it was going to drop, and then all of a sudden I just saw him right next to me, and he made the catch, it was a nice catch.”
Festa had already surrendered the two runs he allowed in his six-inning start. He said Buxton’s catch looked nearly impossible for him to get to. However, that’s only because he’s had fewer times on the mound with Buxton in center than most of his teammates.
“I don’t want to say I doubted him, but it looked like the ball was pretty well in the gap,” said Festa. “The fact he made the play just shows how special of a player he is. And it helped me out big-time.”
Then, Brooks Lee got things rolling in Minnesota’s half of the third with a leadoff double to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games. Catcher Christian Vázquez followed up with a walk, setting the stage for Buxton to crack the furthest home run he’s ever hit, 479 feet into dead center field off Rangers starter Jack Leiter.
“That’s big boy status,” said Buxton. I’ll stick to them stairs. You see it coming back down. That’s exactly how far I can hit it right there.”
“The sound off the bat says it all,” Castro said. “As soon as he hit that, I saw him, and then the way he stood there for a couple seconds at home, we all knew he hit out pretty good.”
The home run was the sixth-longest in Target Field history, and the fourth-longest hit by a Twins player. Only Miguel Sanó (496 ft on September 17, 2019), Jim Thome (490 ft on July 17, 2011), and Kennys Vargas (483 ft on June 20, 2017) have hit it further. Mike Trout is the only player to hit a home run further than Buxton’s in the majors this season, when he crushed a 484 ft blast off Landen Roupp to deep left field.
“I knew that was the longest home run of my career. I knew that was a good one. I ain’t going to lie,” said Buxton. “I knew that was a good one. It’s weird, my last one was off a slider, too. I don’t hit fastballs far, but I can hit a slider.”
While Buxton didn’t get the triple he needed for his first career cycle, he ascended in Minnesota’s history books. His home run was his seventh at Target Field this season, and 77th at the ballpark in his career, which moved him up to third all-time past Sanó, who had 76 at Target Field. He also passed Joe Mauer (143) for the 15th most home runs in franchise history with the 144th of his career.
Those numbers are often just cool factoids to the players. It’s more important to them that they can turn a blowout loss the night before into a victory with strong performances from everyone on the field. Buxton may have had the catch and home run to switch the momentum into Minnesota’s favor.
“Making that catch and coming in, the first two batters getting on kind of — ‘All right, we’re back at the top of the lineup,’” he said. “I think he (Leiter) just didn’t want to make a mistake. He pitched good. Stuff is electric, but just one of those where I sat him out.”
“It was a good baseball day,” said Baldelli. “We saw some things from our center fielder that you probably won’t forget. Pat on the back to everyone who was at the ballpark tonight to be able to watch what he did out there. One of the more mesmerizing performances that you’ll ever see on a field.”
Alcala traded to the Red Sox
After the game, the clubhouse had a bittersweet mood because the Twins had traded reliever Jorge Alcalá to the Boston Red Sox for High-A utility man Andy Lugo. Alcalá, who last pitched for the Twins Tuesday night and gave up six runs on five hits in 1 ⅔ innings, bid farewell to his longtime teammates after the win.
LHP Joey Wentz will take his roster spot, whom the Twins claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier on Wednesday. Minnesota moved RHP Pablo López to the 60-day IL to open a roster spot for Wentz on the 40-man. The Twins will make a corresponding move to fill Alcalá’s open spot at a later date.
