Just a year into his major league career, Byron Buxton took off for third base. He was thrown out.

Buxton, one of the most successful base stealers of all time, hadn’t attempted to take third base for more than nine years when he broke for third base in the third inning on Friday night. The center fielder made it there without a throw and with the stolen base, slid into the Twins’ record books.

His first career steal of third base was also his 20th of the season, making him just the seventh Twin to become part of the 20 home run, 20 stolen base club. It was the highlight of the Twins’ 7-4 win over the San Diego Padres in the series opener at Target Field.

An inning later, he stole another base as part of a four-run inning in which the Padres starter, Nestor Cortes, was ejected right as he was seemingly about to be pulled from the game and the Twins broke away from the Padres.

The center fielder, who is the first to accomplish the feat since Brian Dozier did so in 2014, now has an outside shot to become the first Twin to reach 30/30, needing three more home runs and nine stolen bases to accomplish it.

Buxton has never hit 30 home runs or stolen 30 bases in his career, though that is more due to health than anything. If he stays healthy throughout the rest of the season, it doesn’t seem to be outside the realm of possibilities.

Meanwhile, Buxton, who hit a single and drove in two runs in the game, had plenty of help from his teammates.

Trevor Larnach had a team-high three hits, including one in the fourth inning that put the Twins up by three. It came right after a fielding error by Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth allowed a pair of runs to score.

That helped make a winner of starter Zebby Matthews, who gave up three runs and pitched into the seventh inning.

López nears return

Pablo López’s return is on the horizon.

López, who made his second rehab start with the Triple-A Saints on Tuesday in Toledo, Ohio, has plans to fly back to Toledo to link back up with the Saints and make another outing on Sunday. The starting pitcher has been on the injured list since early June with a teres major strain.

His goal in what he expects to be his final rehab start is to last five innings and throw around 75-80 pitches.

“Last one, best one,” he said. “I still have to remember that it’s been almost three months with a semi-major shoulder injury, so kind of take one more game to feel things out physically, mechanically, pitching wise (and) polish some things up. “

Though he admitted the back and forth is “a little weird,” his reasons for returning to the Twin Cities in between rehab starts are trifold. One, he said, it’s more fun. Two, he wanted to get back for his dog, Bosco. And three, he wanted to throw in front of pitching coaches Pete Maki and Luis Ramirez.

“I’m still trying to feel some things to make sure that I’m not as worried about my velo or things like that,” Lopez said. “Just making sure that I’m feeling healthy. And I’m checking all my marks with the mental cues I have when I’m pitching, so always good to throw, do my plyos, my towel drills, my long toss, having Pete and Luis right there with me.”

Briefly

The Twins have listed Taj Bradley as Saturday’s starter with Joe Ryan scheduled to start on Sunday. The last time through the rotation, Mick Abel started the day before Bradley. The Twins currently have six starters on the major league roster.

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With Connor Cade, Jonah Shine and Bo Bokman all graduated, who would stand up and take the reins at the forefront of Lakeville South’s potent rushing attack this fall?

It took all of one play for Nicolas Swanson to raise his hand. Swanson took the handoff on the Cougars’ first offensive play of the season Friday in Lakeville and went 77 yards to the house to kick off the Cougars’ 34-7 season-opening victory over Mounds View.

Swanson got the party started early, and delivered last call late, with a 67-yard touchdown dash to extend the lead to three scores midway through the final frame.

The senior finished with 14 carries for 244 yards. He and Griffen Dean figure to feast all fall behind an offensive front that features the likes of Asher Collins, Carson Scholl and Mitchel Kelvie on the line with big tight ends such as Brady McCloud — who caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Drake Fritz on a play-action rollout Friday — and Henry Hauge.

The Mustangs responded after Swanson’s initial house call, as a 59-yard strike from Beckham Wheeler to Weston Kuchar set up a 2-yard rushing score for North Dakota State commit Godson Rufus-Okomhanru. Wheeler, who replaces 2024 Mounds View star Jacob Sampson under center this season, completed his first nine passes on Friday.

The 6-foot-4 signal caller had what was described by coach Aaron Moberg at the outset of camp as an “outstanding offseason” and put that work on display on the field Friday.

He completed 12 of his first 15 passes, and two of those misses were drops. But Lakeville South finally flummoxed Wheeler in the fourth quarter, getting pressure that resulted in a game-sealing interception by Diego Neutz in Mounds View territory that set up a Chavon York rushing score.

More of that will be needed this fall for Lakeville South, which probably failed to reach its ceiling a year ago because of shortcomings on the defensive side of the ball.

But, if Friday was any indication, the Cougars could be a far more balanced — and, thus, dangerous — collection in 2025.

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The St. Thomas Academy defense repeatedly set the table Friday night, and Dominic Baez and the offense took advantage.

Baez, a senior running back, rushed for a 2-yard touchdown in the first half and caught a 33-yard touchdown pass in the second as the Cadets downed Cretin-Derham Hall 27-14 in the season opener for both teams at TCO Stadium in Eagan.

St. Thomas Academy set the tone defensively from the start, keeping the pressure on Cretin-Derham Hall senior quarterback Izaak Johnson in the first half and furnishing the Cadets’ offense with ideal field position.

A big sack and fumble on the game’s opening drive forced the Raiders to punt from their own 13, and an ensuing penalty allowed St. Thomas Academy to start at the Cretin-Derham Hall 24.

The Cadets didn’t miss a beat, moving into scoring position where Baez’s touchdown run gave them an early 7-0 lead.

Johnson — who had a big first half passing — withstood the pressure to complete an 8-yard scoring strike to senior Ja’Dale Thompson on the Raiders’ next possession. But the extra point attempt was blocked, allowing St. Thomas Academy to keep a one-point advantage.

Cretin-Derham Hall advanced all the way to the Cadets’ 19 on its next drive, but after a two-yard loss and a pair of incompletions, Johnson was sacked for a loss of nine on fourth down.

Then, after a St. Thomas Academy punt, Johnson was sacked for a third time on first down, and Cretin-Derham Hall ended up kicking the ball away from its own 26.

The Cadets took over at the Raiders’ 43, helping set up junior Toren Piltingsrud for a 34-yard field goal as time expired, giving St. Thomas Academy a 10-6 halftime lead.

The margin expanded to 17-6 when junior Tristan Karl connected on a 3-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass to senior Grant English on the first possession of the second half.

Cretin-Derham Hall then elected to gamble on fourth down and was stopped well short, turning the ball over at its own 28.

Two plays after that, Baez – who was stopped for a loss of five on the first play of the drive – caught a short pass and raced 33 yards down his own sideline for his second touchdown of the night, expanding the Cadets’ lead to 24-6.

Piltingsrud then connected on his second field goal of the night with 4:58 to play, and Sam Heath added a late 13-yard touchdown catch for the Raiders with 1:10 remaining on the clock.

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Standing just beyond the infield dirt in shallow left field, San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez paused his pregame preparations and set his eyes up on the scoreboard.

There, he was treated to a tribute video that took him through some of his most memorable moments as a Twin. He watched his first career hit and home run. He saw the walk he worked against New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz after entering a game mid-plate appearance and inheriting an 0-2 count. He relived a clip of himself breaking up future Padres teammate Dylan Cease’s no-hit bid in the ninth inning.

When the video was over, he tipped his hat to a cheering crowd and waved his hand. And when he came up to the plate for his first-inning at-bat, he gave former teammate Ryan Jeffers a hug before waving to Twins fans once again. And then, as those same fans had seen many times before, he sent a single to right field.

It’s been nearly three full seasons since Luis Arraez, a fan favorite while with the Twins, played a game at Target Field. But the infielder received a warm welcome upon his return to Target Field on Friday evening.

The Twins traded Arraez for starting pitcher Pablo López in the offseason ahead of the 2023 season. The Twins visited Miami that year. Had he stayed with the Marlins, he would have returned to Target Field as a visitor late last season. Instead, he was traded to the Padres midseason and played against the Twins in San Diego.

“When I (woke) up, I just opened the door and then I told my wife, ‘Wow, this is the team that gave me the opportunity to play baseball,’ ” Arraez said. “They signed me in 2013 when I was 16 years old, and then this is my first team. I’m excited to be here.”

Arraez acknowledged the fan support and also mentioned hall of famer Rod Carew and Twins first base coach Ramon Borrego as among those who helped him along his way. Borrego was one of Arraez’s minor league managers, and he credited him with helping improve his defense, calling him one of his “favorite coaches.”

The 28-year-old broke onto the scene in 2019 and gradually won the second baseman job from veteran Jonathan Schoop. He spent four seasons in a Twins uniform, winning a batting title in the final one. He then went on to win a batting title the next season in Miami and a season later, in 2024, with San Diego. His numbers have slightly dipped this season, but Arraez entered Friday with 147 hits, good for fifth in the majors.

“He did great things for us. He really did,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I always said if you have a runner in scoring position, there’s no hitter you’d want up at the plate more than Luis Arraez, because if you just need to score a run, he can bring that run in. And he just does nothing but continue to get hits.

“He was a pleasure to work with, he was a good teammate, he was a good citizen. He was a very good Twin,” Baldelli added. “And he got a lot of hits for us.”

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