Buxton's hot surge continues as Twins' bullpen locks down Tigers

DETROIT -- Twins center fielder Byron Buxton hit his third homer in four games -- and 20th of the season -- to propel Minnesota to a 6-4 win over the Tigers on Wednesday night at Comerica Park.

Buxton downplayed his heroics afterward, saying, “It's more so me bearing down in those situations and trying to get my job done.”

Minnesota manager Derek Shelton put Buxton's slugging into perspective, though: “Credit to him. He just continues to do really good things for us this year. I mean, he’s one of the premier players in the American League.”

Buxton's Statcast-projected 413-foot blast gave the Twins a three-run lead in the top of the fifth inning.

Making his first career start, Mike Paredes allowed one run in three innings, struck out four and allowed just one hit, a two-out RBI double by Gleyber Torres.

Buxton nearly made a spectacular diving grab on Torres’ liner, and Paredes then hit the dangerous Kerry Carpenter.

Was the third inning about to unravel for the rookie? Pitching coach Pete Maki made a mound visit with Detroit’s RBI leader, Dillon Dingler, coming to the plate.

Two pitches later, Paredes coaxed Dingler into a flyout to end his day on a high note.

“Paredes’ first start, I give him a ton of credit,” Shelton said. “It’s hot, and to be able to go out and give us three innings, I felt that was outstanding."

It proved to be the first of three critical outs the Twins secured with Dingler in position to change the outcome.

Shelton said he likely would’ve changed pitchers after the 67-minute rain delay entering the bottom of the first had it been a traditional starter, but Paredes’ bullpen background swayed him to stay with the rookie.

“This was obviously a great experience,” Paredes said. “My first big league start, stuff you dream about as a little kid. ... Obviously, Dingler’s a great hitter. To be able to get out of that spot was great; it was awesome.”

The bullpen game was won by a parade of relievers. Still, it got dicey when Andrew Morris allowed two runs in the fifth inning to shrink Minnesota's lead to 4-3. But with runners on the corners and one out, Morris rose to the occasion, fanning Dingler and Riley Greene back to back to end the threat.

“Overall, I was proud of how he bounced back,” Shelton said. “He had to throw, what, 38 pitches?”

Actually, it was 39, but how was that for one tough survival inning?

Travis Adams had a 1-2-3 sixth inning, but he got into a jam with two on and one out in the seventh.

Veteran southpaw Anthony Banda relieved him and coaxed pinch-hitter Matt Vierling into a popout and Dingler to swing and miss at a 96 mph fastball to close out a scoreless inning.

Many of the 23,517 fans chanted “M-V-P!” for Dingler, but the Twins combined to hold him to 1-for-5 on the night. Dingler had five homers in his previous seven games.

Minnesota got a couple of insurance runs in the seventh inning. Josh Bell's run-scoring single put the Twins up, 5-3, and Brooks Lee scored on a wild pitch by Drew Sommers to give Minnesota some breathing room.

Banda allowed a leadoff walk in the eighth, but he got the next three Tigers in order for a scoreless inning.

“He did a great job,” Shelton said. ”We extended him probably as long as we could. …I think that was probably the key to the game, Banda stabilizing a little right there.”

“I’ve learned to calm the moment down a little bit," Banda said. "Granted, it doesn’t take away the excitement of the moment and knowing what’s on the table. It’s understanding that all I can do is make my pitches and just trust the catcher [Alex Jackson], and trust what we’re doing, and throw my best pitch every single time, take it pitch by pitch and win the counts, stay ahead.

“Those are the things that calm the big moments down. … And it was incredible what we got from Paredes at the start.”

Dingler finally cracked the Twins' bullpen in the ninth, connecting for a two-out RBI single off closer Yoendrys Gómez before Gómez struck out Greene to earn his fifth save.