The Minnesota Twins lost to the Cincinnati Reds 7-2 on Friday night, but that wasn’t the only bad news. Josh Donaldson and Byron Buxton both left Friday’s game with injuries as the Twins will try to wrap up an American League Central title this weekend.
Donaldson’s departure came after the first inning when he felt tightness in his calf. After Ehire Adrianza replaced the Twins’ third baseman, the team announced he’s day-to-day with a muscle cramp.
The news was much scarier for Buxton, who was hit in the head by a pitch from Lucas Sims in the bottom of the eighth.
ICYMI here's Byron Buxton getting hit in the head by a pitch. He was able to collect himself and walked off the field unassisted. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/T3cq2FjCIO
— Tom Froemming (@TFTwins) September 26, 2020
Buxton walked off under his own power, but was also evaluated for a concussion. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli did not give an update on his condition after the game.
With two major injuries, the game didn’t go much better for the Twins as they left multiple opportunities on the basepaths. Despite leaving 11 men on base, the Twins were able to get on the board with an RBI double from Adrianza in the third inning.
Jose Berrios was on the mound for the Twins and had three scoreless innings before Mike Moustakas gave the Reds the lead with a two-run homer in the fourth. The Reds plated two more runs in the fifth on a Freddy Galvis home run and an RBI single from Nick Castellanos and the Twins found themselves in a 4-1 hole.
Marwin Gonzalez delivered an RBI single to cut into the lead in the sixth inning but the Reds plated three runs in the top of the ninth, including Moustakas’ second homer of the night, to put the Twins away.
The good news for the Twins is that the magic number to clinch the AL Central fell to two after Friday night after The Chicago White Sox lost their sixth straight game in a 10-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs. The Cleveland Indians are right behind, winning their sixth straight game, 4-3 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
This leaves the Twins one game ahead of the White Sox and Indians with two games remaining. The Twins will try to move another step closer to the division title when they send Michael Pineda to the mound against Louis Castillo on Saturday night.
