On a day when Minnesota fans were in line hours before first pitch to get their hands on a Byron Buxton bobblehead giveaway, the Twins leadoff hitter put on a show worthy of being immortalized in sports memorabilia form.
Buxton, one of two Twins bound for Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, went 5 for 5 and became the first player in Target Field history to hit for the cycle. He capped off the rare feat with a seventh-inning home run to deep, straightaway center field as Minnesota trounced the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-4, winning for the sixth time in its past eight games.
Buxton singled in the first, tripled in the second, hit a ground-rule double in the third, singled in the fifth and homered late, becoming the first Twin to hit for the cycle since Jorge Polanco did it in an April 2019 game in Philadelphia.
“Feels good. Obviously I’ve got my teammates there. The support they have amongst us in that dugout is pretty incredible. I think that was a big reason to note,” Buxton, who missed a game earlier in the week after taking a pitch off the hand. “They kept me going. ‘Buck, you’re going to do it today.’ They told me that. It was just one of those where you have to believe in yourself that you’re going to do it. I think all of those guys in there believe in me more than I believe in myself sometimes.”
Opener Cole Sands pitched two perfect innings before a trio of relievers came on to finish the game. Travis Adams (1-0) got his first major league win with four innings of work. Kody Clemens, Matt Wallner and Willi Castro also homered for the Twins, who improved to 47-48 with the win. Justin Topa struck out two Pirates in the ninth to close the game.
“Obviously the hitters are better here. So just being a little more precise with executing my pitches and knowing where I can miss and not miss,” said Adams, who was making his second major league appearance. “And I think just to be a little more aggressive with hitters, I had a little better mentality, and results were better.”
Pittsburgh starter Matt Burrows (1-3) was hit hard early, and lifted after 1 1/3 innings.
While Sands needed just 19 pitches to cruise through the first two innings, Burrows had two Twins on base in the first inning, then hit a serious snag in the second. With one out, Burrows walked Royce Lewis with control problems, and followed by hitting Ty France with a pitch. Next up, Clemens sailed the first pitch he faced deep into the right-field seats for a 3-0 lead.
Buxton, who had led off the game with an infield single, tripled just beyond the reach of Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz, and came home when Willi Castro’s swinging bunt died between the mound and the plate for a 4-0 lead. Following a walk of Trevor Larnach, Castro came home on Ryan Jeffers’ single to right, which chased Burrows from the game.
The first batter faced by Pittsburgh reliever Genesis Cabrera, Brooks Lee, dropped a double down the left-field line to score Larnach for a 6-0 lead before the Pirates got out of the inning. In total, the Twins sent 11 to the plate in their half of the second inning.
They touched Cabrera for three more runs in the third.
Adams, on in relief of Sands, pitched a perfect third but encountered turbulence in the fourth. With one out he walked Andrew McCutchen, then allowed a single to Bryan Reynolds for Pittsburgh’s first hit of the game. Nick Gonzalez hit a hard grounder to third, but Lewis misplayed the ball and McCutchen scored on the fielding error.
Adams’ initial pitch of the fifth became a souvenir when Jack Suwinski popped it into the second deck in right field. It was Suwinski’s first homer of the season and made the score 9-2.
Buxton came up for the fifth time with two outs in the seventh and blasted an Andrew Heaney pitch 427 feet over the park’s deepest fence. He left the game but not before coming out of the dugout for a curtain call prompted by the fans.
“One of the hardest things to do in our game is to try to hit a home run and then proceed to hit a home run,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who noted that he was taking two of the bobbleheads home — one for himself and one for his daughter. “You only maybe, if you’re lucky and play a long time and you’re a great player, only maybe get a couple of opportunities to complete a cycle. And do it by hitting a home run when you need a home run? I don’t know. I’ve never seen it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. Wouldn’t doubt if I never see it again. Unless he does it tomorrow.”
Buxton became the 12th Twin ever to hit for the cycle, and the first to do so in a home game since Michael Cuddyer did so in May 2009 versus Milwaukee at the Metrodome.
“It’s special. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous before the game started, just knowing it was bobblehead day. Obviously, you want to come out and do something good,” Buxton said, after becoming just the second player in baseball to record a cycle this season. “So, to be able to come out on bobblehead day and have a day like this is something I won’t forget. Obviously, it’s the first one. So, cherish it and move on tomorrow.”
The series concludes on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Minnesota will send right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4) to the mound to face Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller (3-10).
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