What can you do in 5.6 seconds? Buxton did this
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Byron Buxton is at it again.
The Twins' speedy center fielder added two more stellar catches to his ever-growing highlight reel in Thursday afternoon's 8-2 victory against the Astros, headlined by a leaping grab at the right-center-field warning track to rob Yuli Gurriel of extra bases in the fourth inning.
With the game tied, 1-1, Gurriel lifted a José Berríos fastball 371 feet into the right-center-field gap, and Buxton covered 106 feet in 5.6 seconds, cutting behind right fielder Max Kepler and snagging the ball on a leap before crashing into the wall. According to Statcast, the ball had a catch probability of 15 percent, making Buxton's grab a five-star catch.
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Earlier, in the second inning, Buxton sprinted in from center field to rob Josh Reddick (who later had an amazing catch of his own) of a bloop hit with a basket catch as he neared the infield, attaining a sprint speed of 30.4 feet per second -- just above the elite threshold of 30.
Buxton, the winner of the 2017 American League Platinum Glove Award, entered the game tied for third among AL outfielders with three outs above average this season, according to Statcast, behind only Rays outfielders Kevin Kiermaier and Avisail Garcia.
Buxton contributed on offense in the win as well, hitting an RBI triple in the Twins' six-run fourth inning.
"It was a lot of fun, we came out here and did what we wanted to do," Buxton said after the game. "We were just aggressive, you know. We play aggressive and have a lot of fun doing it."