Buxton, Twins play 'positive, super productive baseball' to snap skid

WASHINGTON -- The Twins have been searching for the momentum needed to break their seven-game skid. Byron Buxton proved to be the catalyst.

The center fielder stepped up big with two homers to help end the Twins’ losing streak on Tuesday night with a statement. He led the charge in the 10-0 shutout against the Nationals at Nationals Park, which served as manager Rocco Baldelli's 400th career win.

“There was positive, super productive baseball being played everywhere you looked tonight,” Baldelli said. “All over the lineup, we had great at-bats. From the start of the game, even in the first inning, just seeing the way the at-bats played out, that’s what we want.”

The 30-year-old hit his first pair of homers after being reinstated from the injured list on Saturday, having missed 14 games with right knee inflammation. He went 1-for-4 in Monday night’s 12-3 loss, after which the Twins had a team meeting the same night to talk about their approach, and Buxton soaked in every word.

“It was good for me,” he said. “It was just making sure we pick each other up through these tough times.”

He carried the message from the meeting into Tuesday, and he got right into action after touching the rally sausage -- which had found its way back to the clubhouse before the game.

Leading off in the second, Buxton approached the plate looking calm and collected. His approach to Nats starter Patrick Corbin was to simply see a good pitch and hit it instead of overthinking. After taking a called strike, he took the southpaw's second offering and sent the ball 388 feet into right-center field to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

The offense clicked, and the runs came in pairs in five frames to support Joe Ryan’s seven scoreless innings.

“That was sharp Joe Ryan, and he was not going to be denied,” Baldelli said. “The way he was throwing the ball, it looked like he wanted the ball in his hands: 'Out of my way and let me go.' He did a great job.”

Jose Miranda was quick to follow in Buxton’s footsteps, hitting a two-run homer to left field in the top of the third inning -- the second of four homers for the Twins -- bringing the score to 4-0.

Buxton was not finished yet, hitting a two-run homer in the top of the fifth inning, this time sending Corbin’s offering 424 feet to center field at 109.5 mph, giving the Twins a 6-0 lead.

“What he can do is pretty unbelievable,” Ryan said. “Just to see how excited he gets when he hits the ball that hard and that far, so it's awesome to see that for him as an individual. But then for the team, I mean we're just grateful to have him here.”

The Twins' offensive breakout did not stop there. Willi Castro rocketed the fourth and final dinger of the night into right-center field in the top of the seventh. The two-run homer put an exclamation point on the rout -- a vast difference from the night before -- as the Twins improved their team slash line to .232/.303/.397.

Ryan’s night ended after seven innings. He held Washington to three hits and two walks, striking out six.

“It felt like an awesome team. I mean, just [what] we did today kind of flipped the script on yesterday for them, so that was awesome,” the right-hander said. “In the last inning, I wasn't necessarily trying to do a whole lot more.”

Now with the losing streak snapped and Baldelli’s 400th win secured, the Twins clubhouse is more positive and will look to use the momentum in order to secure a series win before heading back to Minnesota.

“It felt good,” Buxton said. “Something needed to change and just having a day like this, going out and having the energy we did was good.”