Byron Buxton recorded a pair of hits and scored a pair of runs as the Minnesota Twins picked up their second straight shutout to open the year in a 2-0 win over the Kansas City Royals.
Coming off a two-hit game in Thursday’s season-opening win, Buxton smashed a double in the first inning and scored from second base on Jose Miranda’s RBI single to give the Twins an early lead.
Jose brings Buxton home 🤝@Franki2998 // #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/BiB2mCcfGg
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) April 1, 2023
Buxton picked up his second hit of the game on a single to lead off the top of the sixth inning and made his way to second base on a passed ball by Royals catcher Salvador Perez. After Buxton advanced to third on a fielder’s choice by Miranda, Buxton flashed his speed, scoring on a shallow sacrifice fly off the bat of Kyle Farmer.
Buck on the bases: Bloop single, passed ball, reaches on an error.
👀 And then this cherry on top… pic.twitter.com/bnCtf2228M
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 1, 2023
Buxton’s impact was all the Twins needed offensively as the pitching staff shut down the Kansas City lineup. Sonny Gray made the start and allowed three hits with a strikeout in five innings of work and the combination of Jorge Alcala, Griffin Jax, Caleb Thielbar and Jorge Lopez threw four scoreless innings to lead the Twins to victory.
Christian Vazquez also picked up two hits to help the Twins improve to 2-0 this season. Minnesota will go for the sweep over the Royals when Joe Ryan makes his season debut against Brad Keller on Sunday afternoon.
