Byron Buxton and Harrison Bader have drawn rave reviews for their defense this season — and for good reason. The pair of Gold Glovers have shown off with the leather all year long, letting few balls touch grass.

On Wednesday night, they helped the team in a different way: Both launched home runs, driving in all five of the Twins’ runs in their 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field.

For Buxton, when he got ahold of a first-pitch curveball from Charlie Morton out to left field in the third inning, it was his third home run in as many games. A day after driving in four runs, the center fielder added another three — all on that swing — as he gave the Twins (17-20) a 3-1 lead.

As Buxton has heated up, so have the Twins.

“When he hits the ball at that good angle … they keep going. They’re not scraping walls or anything like that,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “When his timing is good, he’s staying through the ball well, which he is right now, that’s what you see. We reap the benefits of that. We end up winning games because of that.”

Buxton finished with two hits, something he has been doing a lot lately — in five of his last six games, to be specific. Buxton now has hits in seven straight games and 10 of his last 11.

“Most of the time, when that happens, it comes in bunches,” Buxton said. “So it’s just riding the wave a little bit.”

Bader’s longball came much later. A day after being scratched from the Twins’ lineup due to an illness, Bader had just one at-bat on Tuesday — and did everything the Twins could have hoped for with it.

After hitting three home runs in the team’s first six games of the season, Bader was homerless until the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game, when he hit the second pitch of his at-bat out to left for the first pinch-hit home run of his career.

“Getting him out there against a lefty (Keegan Akin) just seemed like it made some sense,” Baldelli said. “It worked out probably even better than you can imagine.”

The two-run home run gave the Twins some breathing room after the Orioles (13-22) had made it a 3-2 game earlier.

Starter Simeon Woods Richardson ran into some trouble in the fifth inning, giving up three straight hits — and a run — before Danny Coulombe came in to face his old teammates and quickly stranded a pair of runners by getting Cedric Mullins to strike out swinging.

Louie Varland entered next to protect the Twins’ slim advantage, which he did successfully — with some acrobatics.

With a pair of runners on, Varland got Jackson Holliday to hit a groundball to the right side of the infield. Varland got off the mound quickly, chasing after it and tumbling over as he grabbed the ball before shoveling it to first baseman Ty France while seated on the infield dirt.

Varland, known for his barking, was greeted in the dugout by a bunch of his teammates making his signature sound.

“It wasn’t graceful,” Varland said. “I’m glad I made the play, because if I didn’t, I’d look like an idiot.”

Brock Stewart, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran followed him into the game, each throwing a scoreless inning of their own to run the Twins’ winning streak to four. It’s the Twins’ second four-game winning streak in their past 12 games.

“This is us. It’s fun to see,” Buxton said. “We know how good we are, and it’s just all about coming out here, doing what we’re supposed to do and making the little plays. And the little ones turn into big ones.”

A three-goal deficit in the second period of their playoff opener turned out to be too much for the Minnesota Frost to overcome on Wednesday night in Toronto. But their 3-2 loss to the Sceptres did not come until the visitors had made a valiant comeback effort.

Goals by Britta Curl-Salemme and Katy Knoll were not quite enough as the Frost gave up the game’s first three goals, and lost Curl-Salemme later in the game to a major penalty.

Frost goalie Nicole Hensley had 34 saves in the losing effort.

“Obviously we like the play when we’re on the other end of it, but it was still a great hockey game,” Minnesota coach Ken Klee said. “It’s a long series. That’s what we take from it. … We know it’s going to be a hard-fought series, and you need to get three to win the series. We didn’t get one tonight, but kudos to them.”

Toronto got a pair of goals from Julia Gosling and 24 saves from goalie Kirsten Campbell to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Game 2 is Friday night in Toronto.

Hensley, who had backstopped the Frost’s two wins to end the regular season, giving up only one goal in the process, got the Game 1 start and was tested early, thwarting a pair of solo rushes to the net by the Sceptres in the first five minutes.

Minnesota’s offense — which had scored eight times in the regular-season finale — took a bit longer to find its legs, managing six first-period shots.

Toronto finally broke through after some line juggling and a missed defensive assignment allowed Blayre Turnbull to skate across the top of the crease unobstructed and tuck a low shot past Hensley. It was the first time in their seven meetings so far this season that Toronto scored the game’s first goal.

Things could have gotten worse quickly for Minnesota when Grace Zumwinkle was whistled for a first-period penalty, putting Toronto’s PWHL-leading power play on the ice. But Hensley had three saves during the two minute advantage to keep their deficit manageable.

“We had some turnovers in the neutral zone. They hemmed us in and kept us in there, and then when you start getting tired, you start making bad decisions,” Klee said. “I think they managed that part of the game better than we did, especially early.”

Then Toronto took control of the game, with Gosling scoring at even strength and on a power play as the Sceptres had their home rink rocking.

Curl-Salemme finally gave Minnesota some offense, scoring a power-play goal on a setup pass from Claire Thompson. Less than a minute later, Curl-Salemme would exit due to a match penalty when she was called for a check to the head while carrying the puck out of the defensive zone.

Klee said he didn’t get a good look at the hit, commenting only that it was a “quick play.”

But with Toronto on a five-minute power play and looking to put the game away, Minnesota’s penalty-killers kept the Frost in the game, with Hensley making several critical saves to get the Frost to the second intermission only trailing by two.

Knoll made it a one-goal game less than three minutes into the third, scoring on a rebound. But Toronto had an answer for every Minnesota push over the final 17 minutes, keeping the Frost to the perimeter for much of the final minute when Hensley was on the bench for an extra attacker.

“We had great moments at times. If we can be more consistent with our play and our depth, I think we’re going to be able to wear them down,” Frost defender Sophie Jaques said. “Continuing to get pucks to the net and taking away the eyes of their goalie, I think, is going to make us successful throughout the series.”

Minnesota faced Toronto in round one of the playoffs a year ago, losing the first two games of the series on the road before winning three in a row and advancing to the Walter Cup Final.

Darius Randell scored in his Minnesota United debut as the Loons beat Louisville City 1-0 on Wednesday in the round of 32 of the U.S. Open Cup.

Randell was one of nine players signed to short-term agreements from MNUFC2 earlier in the day. Goalkeeper Wessel Speel; defenders Kieran Chandler, Britton Fischer, Kisa Kiingi; midfielders Curt Calov, Babacar Niang; and forwards Luke Hille and Muba Nour were also signed.

Randell scored in the 65th minute after Sang Bin Jeong passed across the front of the goal to the far side, where Randell was able to put the ball past Louisville City’s goaltender.

Speel played all 90 minutes in goal for Minnesota, which advances to play in the next round with a game to be determined.

Related Articles

Danny Cruz still ‘fond’ of Loons despite not getting head-coaching job

MNUFC: Loons shut out Austin FC, 3-0

Loons at Austin FC: Keys to match, projected XI and a prediction

Minnesota United ‘quite open’ to add in summer transfer window

How Julian Gressel can immediately help Minnesota United

Stephen Curry will miss at least a week with a hamstring strain suffered in the second quarter of Golden State’s Game 1 victory over the Timberwolves on Tuesday in Minneapolis, putting the superstar guard on the shelf at least until Game 5.

Realistically, the Warriors’ target return date for Curry is likely Game 6, which would give Curry the full 10 days often required to return from such a Grade 1 hamstring strain. That means Minnesota could end the series before the Warriors’ superstar guard ever returns to action.

That’s why sportsbooks have the Timberwolves as a larger favorite to win the series now than they were even prior to dropping Game 1. Golden State sans its star guard — the axis for entire offense — is likely a .500 team, or worse.

Yes, the Warriors have Jimmy Butler, still a brilliant basketball player. But he’s not capable of physically carrying a team to the degree he could even two years ago. Sure, Golden State is elite defensively, but you do have to score to win basketball games. The Warriors are quickly running short on guys capable of doing so.

Golden State is in big trouble, and Minnesota is the beneficiary.

Hey, it’s part of the game. There’s a reason Timberwolves general manager Tim Connelly has always said the goal is just to be a top-four seed in the playoffs. Because if you can position yourself to win in the first round, anything can happen from there with injuries and matchups.

Connelly has lived it first hand. There’s a fair chance he would have won a ring in Denver had the Nuggets not been without Jamal Murray in consecutive postseasons. Minnesota may have a 2004 NBA championship banner hanging had Sam Cassell not gotten injured in 2004.

Mike Conley’s 2021 playoff run with top-seeded Utah was derailed by, yes, a hamstring injury.

Kawhi Leonard had the Spurs up by 23 points in the third quarter of Game 1 in the West Finals against the Warriors in 2017 before a severe ankle sprain sidelined him for the rest of the series. Golden State went on to sweep San Antonio and win the NBA championship.

Two years later, Leonard and the Raptors beat Golden State for the championship after Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson went down with major injuries in the NBA Finals.

Curry’s injury sets up the Timberwolves for advancement to their second consecutive Western Conference Final. If Minnesota doesn’t get there now, it has only itself to blame.

This isn’t a random night in February in which Minnesota lets its guard down against a team missing a couple key players. This is the playoffs. Talent always wins out over the course of a best-of-seven series. The Wolves’ roster now laps the lineups Golden State can trot out without Curry.

Buddy Hield has been great for Golden State, but he’ll now be a focal point of Minnesota’s defensive gameplan. That’s a different ballgame. Jaden McDaniels noted Wednesday he’ll now guard Hield in the same way he attempted to guard Curry, by removing all air space.

Good luck with that, Buddy.

There was a contest last season against a severely undermanned Dallas team in which Minnesota face-guarded Tim Hardaway Jr. — who had scored 36 points in a game two days prior — because he was the Mavericks’ only legitimate shooting threat that evening.

Hardaway Jr. went 2 for 10 from distance, and Minnesota won by 34.

Golden State gutted out a win Tuesday in which it was spotted a 10-point advantage when Curry exited. Winning future games in the series from Square 1, with Minnesota positioned to specifically stop the Warriors’ available personnel, will likely prove to be the steepest of uphill battles.

Understandably, local supporters will view the current situation with their guard up. They’ll brace for the worst, citing Minnesota’s struggles against short-handed teams in recent seasons.

But if the Timberwolves can’t muster up the necessary discipline and purpose to come out on a nightly basis and execute at the level required to win games against a team at a significant talent disadvantage — with a spot in the NBA’s final four on the line — then everything will need to be re-evaluated this offseason.

The Wolves caught a massive break on Tuesday, not the type of one any team wishes to receive, but it certainly should take advantage of. A failure to do should be viewed as nothing less than a catastrophic failure.