MINNEAPOLIS — Recently, Byron Buxton told Jhoan Duran he has his back whenever the Twins closer is on the mound.
“Now, I know what it means,” Duran said.
With another potentially devastating blown lead in progress on Tuesday night, Buxton raced more than 70 feet to his left and laid out for a game-ending catch to preserve a 4-2 Twins victory over the Chicago White Sox at Target Field.
With one run in, two men in scoring position and two outs in the ninth inning, Buxton did his best Superman and saved the Twins, robbing Andrew Benintendi of extra bases and eliminating another round of heartbreak.
“A truly dynamic player, laying out at the warning track, going full speed, showing everyone what he can do,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That was something else.”
Perhaps Buxton’s extraordinary act is just what the Twins need to finally escape their early-season hellscape.
UNBUCKINGBELIEVABLE!!!! pic.twitter.com/FIVL7pTYA3
— Twins.TV (@twinstv) April 23, 2025
Before he hauled it in, the 8-15 Twins were once again on the precipice of disaster.
Four times in their first 22 games had the Twins already blown leads of at least three runs, three of those resulting in losses, including a crushing loss in Atlanta on Friday.
Taking over in the ninth with a 4-1 lead, Duran quickly set up the possibility of another epic failure by loading the bases with no outs on a single and two walks. Duran bounced back with two quick outs, a strikeout and a groundout, though the latter reduced the lead to two runs and allowed both runners to advance into scoring position.
Using his fastball, Duran got ahead of Benintendi 1-2 before the batter evened the count by taking a ball. Benintendi then fouled off a fastball before ripping the next and sending it screaming toward the gap in right-center. Hit off the bat at 101.2 mph with an expected batting average of .580, Benintendi looked as if he was set to crush the Twins’ souls once again.
Until Buxton stepped in.
“I knew he hit it good,” Buxton said. “Just not many fans here, so you can hear how loud it comes off the bat. I knew off the jump I had to get on my horses.”
As he began racing toward the wall, Buxton looked around to make sure there was enough room for him to safely pursue the ball. Earlier in his career, Buxton admitted he would have run through a wall to make the play. But after losing serious playing time to injuries sustained in collisions with outfield fences, Buxton knows when he needs to dial it back. Once he determined he had plenty of space, Buxton adjusted and went all out. Running on a straight line, Buxton leapt to make the catch, falling to the warning track as he did.
“He just jumps in the air and it’s like slow motion,” said right fielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. “It was one of the most incredible catches I’ve ever seen.”
Back on the mound, Duran started to wildly celebrate. Buxton and Keirsey jumped up and down in the outfield. And for a minute, the Twins could breathe easy knowing they hadn’t suffered another setback.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Duran said. “That was crazy. That pumped me up too much. … If he doesn’t catch that ball, the game is tied. He caught the ball and we win. That’s amazing.”
Holy cow, Trevor!!! pic.twitter.com/AxzHDRxfiq
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 23, 2025
Big moments for Ober, Larnach
Bailey Ober made pitches when he needed to. Trevor Larnach provided a jolt of critical insurance.
Before the Twins nearly blew it again, they played one of their cleanest games of the season. Ober worked around eight hits, inducing a pair of critical double plays while striking out six in six one-run innings.
Thanks to a Ty France RBI single and Luke Keaschall scoring one of his two runs (he reached base three times and stole two bags) on a throwing error, Ober exited with a 2-1 score. Larnach padded the lead with a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
“I had to kind of battle my way through this,” Ober said. “They hit a lot of balls in play that found some grass, so I was able to kind of just stay on my attack, not really get too worried about runners on base and make some pitches when I needed to. Got some key double plays that were huge.”
Lewis is closer to a rehab assignment
The team’s slugging third baseman put in another good day of baseball activity, including running Tuesday as he recovers from a left hamstring strain. On the injured list since Opening Day, Royce Lewis could potentially begin a rehab assignment as soon as this weekend, though Twins officials haven’t established a timeline.
Another good sign for López
Three days after he made a successful rehab start for Triple-A St. Paul, Pablo López took another step toward being activated when he threw a healthy and productive bullpen session on Tuesday. On the IL with a right hamstring strain retroactive to April 9, López is eligible to be activated on Thursday.
He allowed a run and three hits while striking out four over 4 2/3 innings on Saturday against Triple-A Iowa.
“Everything felt good,” López said of the start. “Body was moving well, pitches were feeling well. It was funny not having the PitchCom myself. There was a couple times that I wanted to call my own pitch so I had to either call the catcher, burn a visit or throw a pitch I didn’t want to, which was funny. But no, throwing-wise, everything was good. … I threw a bullpen (Tuesday). That also went great. I’m happy with where everything is.”
But López won’t return until at least Friday. After Tuesday’s game, Baldelli announced Chris Paddack will start Thursday’s series finale.
Bader to play for Team Israel in WBC
Twins outfielder Harrison Bader committed to playing for Team Israel in the 2026 World Baseball Classic during an appearance on the Max Mannis Podcast.
“The World Baseball Classic is awesome for so many reasons, and just getting an opportunity to represent Israel on the baseball side and wearing that uniform, I think, is special for me and my friends and family and a lot of people I love and support tremendously,” Bader said.
(Photo of Jhoan Duran and Byron Buxton celebrating after Tuesday’s victory: Jesse Johnson / Imagn Images)