Minnesota’s Byron Buxton hit a career-high 35 homers last season. He seems intent on setting a career high this season, as the Detroit Tigers have discovered during their home series against the Twins this week.
After homering in the first two games of the series, Buxton will look to remain hot in the decisive contest of the set on Thursday afternoon.
Buxton homered on the first pitch he saw on Tuesday after missing the Twins’ previous two games due to a right shoulder contusion. He smashed a three-run shot in the fifth inning on Wednesday as the Twins bounced back from a 10-4 loss with a 6-4 victory.
Buxton reached the 20-homer mark with his latest long ball, placing him among the league leaders. But Buxton said a home-run title isn’t on his radar.
“I don’t care about that,” he told MLB.com. “It’s the little things for me. At the end of the day, getting wins is the biggest thing.”
Right-hander Keider Montero (2-4, 3.95 ERA) will start the series finale for the Tigers. In his last outing on Saturday, he gave up four runs and six hits in five innings in a 4-0 setback to the Seattle Mariners.
In his previous outing, Montero tossed six scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox. He’s 1-1 with a 5.56 ERA in two career outings vs. the Twins.
Right-hander Zebby Matthews (2-3, 4.15 ERA) will start on Thursday for Minnesota. He has four quality starts among his five outings this season.
In his latest appearance on Friday, he held Kansas City to two runs and five hits in seven innings in a 5-3 victory. Matthews overcame four walks, which matched his total from his first four starts.
“He stepped up, was able to execute pitches,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “In the first, he kind of scattered the ball a little bit, then had to bring it back to the middle. And they swung the bats well. … But he settled back down. He had the fifth and sixth inning, where he threw seven pitches and settled it back down. … It’s a start we needed.”
Matthews bounced back from a start on May 31 in which he surrendered seven runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He’s made two career starts against the Tigers, both last August. Matthews limited them to one run and five hits in five innings in a 6-3 win on Aug. 5, and then gave up two runs and five hits while walking four in four innings in a no-decision 11 days later.
Matthews will try to cool off Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler, who likely will be the designated hitter on Thursday. Dingler had two homers, a double and a single in the series opener. He added an RBI single on Wednesday.
“Not to make it simple, but I feel like I’m getting good pitches in the heart of the zone,” Dingler said. “We’ve been working on turning barrels. But ultimately, it’s just getting good pitches in the heart of the plate. And confidence. It’s all about confidence. Once you have a sliver of confidence, it goes a long way. Just have to ride that wave.”
–Field Level Media
