It’s a fun time to be a Minnesota sports fan, with the Timberwolves, Wild and Frost all making playoff runs -- and the Twins showing good signs as well, with back-to-back wins and three out of five. Even the Twins themselves are enjoying the moment -- they wore Wild jerseys on Monday’s flight from Minnesota to Washington.
Tuesday’s 11-3 win against the Nats was a team win, with contributions from all over. In honor of that, and as a cap-tip to the area’s two professional hockey teams, here are three stars from the game.
Third star: Byron Buxton
He was American League Player of the Week last week, so it’s not like Buxton hasn’t been hitting. He’s been torrid. But one thing had been bothering him, and he got it off his back in a very big way on Tuesday.
Entering the game, Buxton was a hard-to-believe 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position this year. Seven of his 10 homers were of the solo variety. He missed a chance to drive in runs in the fourth inning Tuesday before Trevor Larnach (an honorable mention for a star in this game) picked him up. But in the eighth, he got it done. With two men on and nobody out, Buxton launched a three-run homer that provided some very welcome breathing room for the Twins' bullpen.
Second star: Brooks Lee
No Twin got his season off to a rougher start than Lee, scuffling on both sides of the ball in the early going. But ever since a game-winning two-run single against the Tigers on April 9, Lee has been a different hitter. He went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs on Tuesday, continuing a hot streak that’s now nearly a month long.
Dating back to that pivotal hit, Lee is 26-for-85 (.306) with five homers, four doubles, 19 RBIs and a .529 slugging percentage. He had arguably the biggest hit of the game Tuesday, a two-run double in the second inning that quickly erased an early Washington lead. He’s also helped turn game-ending double plays in each of the last two games. Lee deepens the lineup and has shown virtually no platoon split this year, making him a key piece of the offensive attack.
“Brooks had a really nice game,” manager Derek Shelton said to reporters after the game, and he wasn’t wrong.
First star: Taj Bradley
This is starting to become routine, but don’t let yourself fall into that trap. Oh, ho hum, another six innings and two runs from Taj Bradley. The Nationals have been one of the most dangerous teams in either league, averaging more than 5.0 runs per game, and even after an uneven start to his outing, Bradley shut them down.
Bradley needed 27 pitches to get through the first inning and 24 more to escape the second. He dodged a dangerous two-on, no-out situation without a run in the second, then settled in. Following a career-high 114 pitches in his previous start, the long innings had Shelton a bit concerned that he might have to use an early hook, but it wasn’t necessary. Bradley needed just 45 pitches over his final four innings.
The hard-throwing righty found success with all four of his offerings. Bradley reached 99 miles per hour twice on his fastball and averaged 97.0 on the night. He got seven swings and misses on his splitter, three on his cutter and four on his curve. It’s the curve that continues to emerge as a weapon – he finished off five of his strikeouts with it, the second straight game it’s been especially effective.
“It’s good,” Bradley told reporters after the game. “I’m feeling -- yes, putout pitch -- but I feel like I’m finding more comfort in landing it to show more value. Getting it to certain parts to where it’s a good offering, a competitive pitch around the zone. I feel like if I keep doing that and keep honing it in my bullpens, it will be better.”