After sitting out Saturday’s 10-inning loss to Cleveland, Byron Buxton was back in the lineup Sunday and his 11th homer of the season helped the Minnesota Twins to a 3-1 win over the Guardians.
Buxton’s long ball came the inning after he slammed into the outfield wall trying to make a leaping catch. The oft-injured centerfielder came away from the play no worse for wear, then took a Tyler McKenzie fastball over the left-field wall in the fifth inning.
Byron Buxton is confirmed good at this baseball thing.#mntwins pic.twitter.com/pkZXrAxt9Y
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) May 15, 2022
Buxton’s 11 homers ranks second in the big leagues, trailing only Aaron Judge’s 12 home runs. Judge, however, has needed 32 games to hit 12 while Buxton has 11 in just 23 games.
The Buxton blast and a long ball from Gio Urshela (his second homer of the weekend series), along with an RBI single from Max Kepler, was enough for Minnesota pitching, which was led by six innings of one-run ball from Joe Ryan.
The rookie right-handed didn’t walk anyone and struck out five while giving up just four hits. The bullpen worked a clean final three innings, including the ninth inning by Emilio Pagan, who leads the Twins with five saves.
Minnesota won two of three in the weekend series. Aside from being swept by the Astros last week, the Twins have swept or won five of their last six series, with the other being a four-game split with the Orioles. The Twins are 16-7 since getting out of the gates with just four wins in their first 12 games.
Up next: Twins at Oakland, Monday at 8:40 p.m.
