Buxton certainly All-Star worthy against Texas

ARLINGTON -- Just a couple of hours after he found out he was an All-Star, Byron Buxton set the tone in the Twins’ 6-5 win over the Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field.

Buxton launched a solo shot just over the right-field wall in the top of the first inning. Like the rest of the series -- and most of the season for Minnesota -- the game was a tight one, but the Twins managed to pull off the win after dropping the first two games in the weekend set.

“It’s definitely one of those days you won’t forget,” Buxton told Bally Sports after the game. “A win on top of that just makes it that much better.”

For the first time in his career, the 28-year-old outfielder was named as a reserve for the American League squad in the All-Star Game to be played on July 19 at Dodger Stadium. He’ll be joined by first baseman Luis Arraez. Manager Rocco Baldelli said it was only fitting that Buxton followed up the big news with a home run to start the game.

Buxton’s first-inning homer marked his career-best 23rd of the season. He trails only Aaron Judge, Kyle Schwarber, Yordan Alvarez and Mike Trout, and is tied with Pete Alonso and Austin Riley for fifth on the Major League leaderboard.

You probably won’t see Buxton hitting homers at the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, though. Buxton said he doubts he’ll participate so that he can focus on being ready, healthy and well rested for his team after the break.

“[Buxton] will always do, I think, what he thinks is most appropriate for the team. It’s the way he thinks, it’s the way he does everything,” Baldelli said. “But I’m sure he’s going to want to take the All-Star break, as much as possible, to take care of his body and put himself in a really good position going forward.”

Buxton has consistently dealt with injuries throughout the season and his career, most recently a right knee injury, but he has managed to avoid the IL. On Friday, Buxton put his body on the line for his team quite a bit and took a few hits. He was slow to get up after diving to third base early in the game. Minnesota’s trainers took the field to check on him, but he stood up and brushed it off. He was later hit by a pitch, but the big concern was running into the left-center-field wall while making an amazing catch.

“That’s just how [Buxton] plays. That’s the way he’s always played. He plays hard. He plays to win. He’s going to do whatever it takes to win a ballgame,” Baldelli said. “There are some times where we, maybe not tone it down, but we ask him to just be under control and do that. He doesn't listen to us sometimes. He just goes out there and plays hard.”

Buxton didn’t hit the wall at full speed -- thanks to help from his teammates -- but up until the final frames of Sunday’s game, he spent the rest of the series as the designated hitter.

How does Buxton bounce back after games like that?

“It’s more of a mental mindset,” he said. “Physically, you probably don’t feel too good the next day, but for me, I only play the game once. And, for me, I want to be out there every day I possibly can.”