FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Ten years ago, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton were the top two picks in the 2012 MLB Draft. On Friday, they brought bona fide superstar power as the Nos. 1 and 2 in Minnesota's lineup. Friday's game showed off just how much fun that can be this season for the Twins.

With left-hander Max Fried on the mound, Buxton and Correa showed they can be one of the most talented 1-2 punches in MLB, when manager Rocco Baldelli bunched them together atop the batting order to immediately ambush Atlanta's Opening Day starter.

Three combined homers and four extra-base hits later, the dynamic duo had put on a show as they powered the Twins to an 8-7 win with a tantalizing taste of what's to come in Minneapolis this season.

"Today was fun, just to see me and him hit one and two," Buxton said. "It's going to be a fun year. A very fun year."

"All I’m saying is it was fun," Correa said. "It was cool."

"The real investigative reporting would be to look for anyone that did not like it," Baldelli said. "You find anyone that didn't like it, that's the story."

Well, Fried probably didn't like it so much.

The fun starts for Buxton and Correa even before the game gets underway, as they converse frequently when they're standing around the on-deck circle together, getting ready to hit. Correa had faced Fried in the World Series last fall while with the Astros and the shortstop gave Buxton some pointers, which the center fielder said helped him relax in the batter's box.

Relax -- and do some serious damage.

Buxton led off the bottom of the first by turning on a two-strike fastball from Fried, yanking it over the fence in the deepest part of left-center field at Hammond Stadium to pull the Twins within a run. Correa followed with a hard liner to the left-center-field gap for a double and eventually scored to cap a two-run first.

Three frames later, the Twins piled on a six-spot in the fourth inning off Fried to surge ahead for good, and of course, Buxton and Correa were right in the middle of it all.

Following a two-run blast by Ryan Jeffers, Minnesota put two men on for Buxton, who crushed a sinker from reliever Dylan Spain for a three-run blast, his team-leading fourth long ball of the spring. Not to be outdone, Correa took the next pitch before taking his own big cut, smashing his second homer of the spring as the pair of superstars went back to back for the first time.

The first of many, they hope.

"Having him hit behind me is kind of just, get on base and do what you're going to do, and he's going to handle his own," Buxton said.

It's definitely a possibility against lefties. Baldelli and the Twins have tended to stack big right-handed bats atop their lineup in such scenarios, with Mitch Garver and Kyle Garlick frequently moving up in the order to accompany Josh Donaldson in years past. The top four in Friday's lineup -- Buxton, Correa, Jorge Polanco and Gary Sánchez -- could be the 2022 version of that.

"I think there's a very real chance that we see them 1 and 2 at times this year, and I think we got a little taste of it today, and it was good," Baldelli said.

Buxton hit .325/.372/.625 (.997 OPS) against left-handed pitching last season, while Correa hit southpaws to the tune of a .290/.398/.446 slash (.844 OPS). Buxton has a 1.411 OPS with 11 hits this spring; Correa has a 1.364 OPS as part of his shortened camp.

And remember how Buxton said he can relax when he can feed off Correa? It works the other way, too.

"He’s so dynamic, right?" Correa said. "He’s got so many ways to get on base. Now he hits for power. He does everything. You know when he’s at the plate, something cool’s going to happen so when you’re hitting behind him, I know if he goes in the gap, I know he’s going to be at third with no outs. So that gives you a more comfortable at-bat."

The fun against lefties could start as soon as Opening Day, when 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray -- a left-hander -- will take the mound for Seattle. It sure looks like they're ready for it.

"I'm ready," Buxton said. "I can't wait to get up north."