Minnesota’s Byron Buxton knows his season could be a lot worse.
So even if Buxton misses Saturday night’s game between the Twins and Tampa Bay Rays in Minneapolis, he is grateful that his status is day-to-day instead of week-to-week — or longer.
“It’s an arm,” Buxton said. “It ain’t broken, so I’m good.”
The Twins’ veteran outfielder dodged a serious injury after he was hit by a pitch in Friday’s series opener vs. Tampa Bay. He left the game with a right forearm contusion, and the team announced that X-rays were negative.
It’s uncertain whether Buxton will be in the lineup or take a day to recoup, but the Twins are in good spirits regardless. They are coming off a 10-4 win over the Rays on Friday that featured a seven-run seventh inning.
Tristan Gray punctuated the big inning with his first career grand slam and his first home run as a member of the Twins. He might not have been in the lineup if not for an illness to fellow infielder Brooks Lee — and now it might be tough to take Gray out of the lineup.
“He looks phenomenal right now at the plate,” Twins right-hander Bailey Ober said. “(He’s) putting some great swings on balls, and obviously he came up huge with that grand slam. It’s been really awesome to watch, and (he’s a) great teammate. It’s really cool.”
Tampa Bay is eager to create its own happy memories during the series.
The Rays’ early-season defensive woes continued in the series opener as they committed three errors. They have a league-worst 12 in their first seven games.
Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash wants to see a cleaner effort going forward. He also pointed out the importance of improved pitch command and preventing opponents from stealing bases after Buxton was hit by a pitch on a 1-2 count, and his pinch runner swiped a base Friday.
“Not ideal,” Cash said. “… We’ve got to do a better job of that. And then we didn’t make plays behind him. It’s not going to happen overnight, but we’ve got to play better.”
Rays left-hander Steven Matz (1-0, 7.20 ERA) will try to help turn things around. Matz got the victory in his season debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday despite allowing four runs on six hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out two.
In four career appearances (three starts) against the Twins, Matz is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA. He fired four scoreless innings in relief against them in 2025.
Minnesota will counter with right-hander Mick Abel, who will make his first start of the season. Abel tossed 3 1/3 innings in a long-relief role Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, and he allowed five runs on eight hits. He walked four and struck out four.
Abel hasn’t faced the Rays in his brief career, which spans eight starts and 42 1/3 innings.
The 24-year-old said he hopes to learn from a bumpy season debut.
“I was getting ahead early and did a good job of that,” Abel said. “I think I could have done a much better job of executing with two-strike counts.”
-Field Level Media
