After losing in walk-off fashion Wednesday and Thursday in Cleveland, the Minnesota Twins got one back on a walk-off, two-run homer by Byron Buxton to beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 Friday night.
Bux stops the game here. #walkoff
(MLB x @CapitalOne) pic.twitter.com/dDNZB4kLsH
— MLB (@MLB) July 2, 2022
The Target Field crowd erupted when Buxton launched a hanging breaking ball from Jorge Lopez over the wall in left-center field – his career-high 21st of the season to save the game give the Twins a 1.5-game lead in the AL Central over the Cleveland Guardians, who were rained out against the Yankees Friday night.
Buxton’s blast saved an otherwise quiet night at the plate. Minnesota had three hits in the first inning and didn’t get another hit until Luis Arraez led off the ninth with a single. His homer also took some heat off the bullpen, which again failed late in the game when Caleb Thielbar gave up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
While Buxton was the hero, it was Joe Ryan who gave the Twins seven strong innings. The rookie right-handed allowed just one run on two hits while striking out seven. He needed just 89 pitches to get 21 outs.
The win gets the Twins to 44-36.
Up next: Twins vs. Orioles, Saturday at 1:10 p.m.
