Article: MIN 10, ARI 3: Buxton Inside-the-Parker Highlights 6 HR Game for Twins

[Tom Froemming]

Byron Buxton hit an inside-the-park home run and the Twins clubbed five more homers over the fence in a late-inning barrage of offense against the Diamondbacks Friday night. Buxton ended the game a single short of hitting for the cycle.Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs)

Download attachment: WinEx818.png

Top 5 Twins per WPA: Buxton .302 | Polanco .213 | Hildenberger .198

 

One of my all-time favorite baseball quotes is this one from Rogers Hornsby: “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

 

I’m pretty sure for me this winter it’ll be staring into a screen watching highlights of Buxton running around the bases or tracking down fly balls in the outfield. Buxton was incredible tonight, as he hit a triple in the second inning, an inside-the-park homer in the fourth and doubled in the sixth.

 

The D-Backs finally got him out in the seventh, albeit on a line drive he hit over 95 mph, to keep him from completing the cycle. He’ll have to settle for “just” nine total bases in his four plate appearances. You know what? I’m not even gonna wait for winter, let’s watch this kid run:

The Twins also got home runs from Max Kepler (16), Eduardo Escobar (11), Brian Dozier (24) and two from Miguel Sano (27 & 28) but they all hit the ones where you get to trot around the bases. Lazy. Here’s Sano’s first homer …

… but his second blast was even more impressive ...

You wanna see the full highlight reel from this one? You’ll basically just want to watch the condensed game, because it seemed like this was just an endless stream of awesomeness from the Twins. They scored 10 runs on 17 hits, 11 of them going for extra bases.

 

Ervin Santana had a quality start, limiting Arizona to three runs over six innings. He gave up seven hits, walked three and had six strikeouts. Those three runs all came in the first two innings. The Twins didn't take the lead until the bottom of the sixth, when Jorge Polanco drove in Buxton with a single. Nice little come-from-behind victory.

 

Trevor Hildenberger (0.2 IP), Taylor Rogers (1.0 IP), Tyler Duffey (0.2 IP) and Nik Turley (0.2 IP) combined to throw three perfect innings out of the bullpen.

 

Postgame With Buxton

Twins W-L Record

Overall: 61-59 (.508)

Last 10: 7-3 (.700)

Last 20: 12-8 (.600)

Last 40: 20-20 (.500)

Last 80: 39-41 (.488)

 

AL Central Standings

Cleveland 67-53

Minnesota 61-59 (-6.0)

Kansas City (-6.5)

 

AL Wild Card Standings

WC 1: Yankees 65-56

WC2: Minnesota 61-59, Angels 62-60

Kansas City 61-60 (-0.5)

Seattle 62-61 (-0.5)

 

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Download attachment: Bullpen818.png

Looking Ahead

SAT: Twins (Jose Berrios) vs. Arizona (Zack Greinke), 6:10 pm CT

SUN: Twins (Bartolo Colon) vs. Arizona (TBD), 1:10 pm CT

MON: Twins (TBD) at White Sox (TBD), 4:10 pm CT

MON: Twins (TBD) at White Sox (TBD), Game 2

 

Question of the Day

How much do you think it’d cost to fly out to New York and get a hotel in early October? Why do I ask? Oh, I dunno, just curious ...

 

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[DocBauer]

Great game! Great win! I really think this team believes in themselves. Does Molitor have a hand in This? I have to wonder.

 

Sanos power is borderline illegal.

 

As is Buxton's speed. From the replay, he's at 2B before the ball is even touched! Wow!

 

[Danchat]

Great game. It looked like another potential clunker down 3-0 in the 2nd, but everything turned around. Ervin did a great job to salvage the start and the offense just kept chugging along. I think Buxton is legitimately breaking out now. Our patience is finally going to be rewarded. Polanco has regained his mojo too, and Rosario continues to hit out of his mind. Good stuff!

[Rhino and Compass]

I can't think of a collection of more enjoyable home runs from the Twins. A few extremely long bombs, and one lightning fast inside the park-er. These Twins are very fun

[Tommygun921]

Only 4 games behind NY Tom....might wanna check the rates for Minneapolis!

[Darius]

That was a great game to watch.

 

If Sano's mammoth bombs were indication of him hitting another power surge, this lineup is a nightmare for opposing pitchers.

[Platoon]

Buxton is an example of the taking long view on this roster. Kepler will be another. Hopefully some young pitcher(s) will follow suit. But for now this will have to do. This is what offensive based baseball looks like. Win big, lose big. But it's just so much more difficult to operate consistently at a high offensive level than a defensive one.

Edited August 19, 2017 by Platoon

[AlwaysinModeration]

I've been waiting for the triples to come, but I'll take an inside the parker too. Fastest inside the park homerun in the statcast era, and Buxton's fastest triple ever. Over 21mph.

 

I was wondering if there had ever been a cycle with an inside the park homerun...and the broadcasters said it happened 8 times.

[Circus Boy]

I was reffing for the first Friday of high school football, so missed the game. Was pleasantly surprised. Maybe a great run is in the Twins future. But I agree with Riverbrian in his setup, that our interest should focus on getting into the play-in game.

[adorduan]

Lost in all the home runs was Hildenbergers double play ball after relieving Santana.  Huge moment in the game.

[Han Joelo]

That was the definition of firing on all cylinders.  Could've been more; Rosario had a nice game too.  Sano getting thrown out at home while he was still closer to third base is a head scratcher.  Although I think I approve of him conceding the out and not getting anyone hurt by doing something fancy.

 

I like that Hildenberger kid.  I think he's already carved his niche.

[Ncgo4]

If a month ago I'da said that Polanco, Buxton & Rosario would carry this team into playoff contention every one, including me, woulda thought I was nuts. Man what a run for these 3. Fun watching.

[mikelink45]

The inside the park homerun is still the most exciting hit in baseball, triples are second and Buxton did both.  He is really giving us what we have been waiting for.  Nice that Turley got a couple outs.  Now if we can get Gonsalves in the rotation and if Slegers continues this years magic we have a formula for getting to that playoff.

 

What we need now is for Berrios to get out of his slump.

[ThejacKmp]

 

The inside the park homerun is still the most exciting hit in baseball, triples are second and Buxton did both.  

 

Agreed on exciting. I still think the most exciting play in baseball is when a guy gets thrown out at the plate. Always amazing.

[USAFChief]

Also don't shortchange Ervin Santana. Got hit around a bit in the first, gave up a cheap HR in the second, then found his stuff and cruised into the 7th.

 

I'm glad Santana wasn't traded and hope he's in the rotation next year.

[Dantes929]

All year Buxton and Mauer have been my two favorite batters to watch and early that was with Buxton hitting under .100     So much more fun now.   Buxton has a much better eye now and when he does go chasing he still stays on the ball.    We are seeing what happens when more than just Nunez or just Dozier is having a good year.   Only one guy is having a career year (Rosario) what a difference to not have 6 or 7 guys having terrible years.

[lukeduke1980]

 

Also don't shortchange Ervin Santana. Got hit around a bit in the first, gave up a cheap HR in the second, then found his stuff and cruised into the 7th.

I'm glad Santana wasn't traded and hope he's in the rotation next year.

You could tell Ervin wasn't feeling it, or that the AZ hitters were jumping his fastballs and he needed time to rethink his game plan.  Lessons I hope Berrios picks up over time.

 

Otherwise an incredibly fun night.  

[bluechipper]

Great game to watch. Jorge Polanco continued his hot hitting, and with some power. It's great seeing him get back on track, and I expect him to be a guy that you feel like is going to get a hit every time he's in the box.

[Bill Brown69]

 

You could tell Ervin wasn't feeling it, or that the AZ hitters were jumping his fastballs and he needed time to rethink his game plan.  Lessons I hope Berrios picks up over time.

 

Otherwise an incredibly fun night.  

 

Santana mentoring both Berrios and Mejia is why I did not want him traded. I hope he pitches here for 2 more years regardless of cost just for that reason. He has changed a lot since he came into the majors.