The Minnesota Twins will have to play their most important games of the season without one of their most important players.
Minnesota will go back to work Monday evening when it opens a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers in Minneapolis. Both teams are on the outside looking in when it comes to the wild-card playoff race, but one month remains for them to gain ground.
The Twins must try to do so without top outfielder Byron Buxton, who was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday because of a right hip impingement. The team promoted outfield prospect Gabriel Gonzalez from Triple-A Saint Paul to take Buxton’s spot on the roster.
Twins manager Derek Shelton said he hopes Buxton can return before the season ends.
“It really hasn’t felt better,” Shelton said. “In terms of the modalities to test it out in the training room, I think one of the things with going day-to-day was seeing how he felt.
“One of the many good things about Byron is his transparency of how his body feels and where he’s at. (Sunday), when he came in, it has not gotten better. I think giving it time to be able to calm down … (and) see if we can get him back this year is where we’re at.”
As the Twins lose an All-Star who has 25 homers and 46 RBIs this season, the Tigers will look forward to welcoming one back. Left fielder Riley Greene took part in a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo this past weekend and could rejoin the Tigers as soon as Tuesday.
“Doesn’t (stink) to have an All-Star back in your lineup and (benefit from) the energy he brings, the presence he brings, and the stability,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “But it doesn’t have to just be him (picking up the team). We can pick up the pace in multiple areas of our batting order.”
The Tigers will start right-hander Jackson Jobe (1-1, 3.93 ERA) in the series opener. He has made four big-league starts this season, and over his past two he has allowed only two earned runs in 9 2/3 innings.
Jobe pitched well in his lone career start against the Twins on April 12, 2025. He got the victory after firing six scoreless innings in which he allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two.
Minnesota will counter with right-hander Taj Bradley (9-6, 3.97 ERA), who leads the team with 169 strikeouts in 147 1/3 innings this season. This will be his 100th career start.
Bradley has not earned a victory in eight straight starts. In his most recent outing, he took the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings in a 4-2 setback to the Athletics on Tuesday.
In two career starts against Detroit, Bradley is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA.
Minnesota is coming off a 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Zebby Matthews took a perfect game into the sixth inning and threw 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball to improve to 9-8. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out five as the Twins won for only the second time in their past nine games.
The Tigers are looking to bounce back from a 6-1 loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. Detroit is 3-12 over its past 15 games.
“The margins are small,” Hinch said. “Nobody likes to hear that when you walk out of town with the record that we have and losing the series. Losing — whether they’re close (losses) or big — makes for some sleepless nights.
“But our guys are grinding. We’re learning a lot. We’ve got some guys taking their lumps a little bit, but we’re also a hit or two away from flipping the conversation to a really exciting series win.”
–Field Level Media
