Buxton's speed, three-hit game lead Twins' breakout in series finale

PHOENIX -- It looked at first that the D-backs’ primary worry on Thursday would be in dealing with the “Slim Reaper,” the moniker of top pitching prospect David Festa.

But then, the “Buck Truck” and the Minnesota bats rolled through the desert and left utter devastation in their wake.

Festa had far from a clean MLB debut as he allowed five earned runs in five innings -- but that didn’t matter at all. He still comfortably earned his first career win thanks to the exploits of the relentless Minnesota offense led by the power-speed feats of a surging Byron Buxton, whose three-hit game was highlighted by not only a 456-foot homer, but also some of his most electric running in some time, to lead the Twins’ 13-6 win at Chase Field.

“Buck was flying today in a way that really catches everybody's attention,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “That was wonderful to see.”

Buxton had a huge supporting cast in the offensive explosion that saw the Twins plate six runs in the second inning, then seven more across the following three innings, before the club later endured an injury scare to Carlos Correa, who exited the game in the seventh following a hit-by-pitch to his right arm, which was later revealed to only be a wrist contusion -- not a fracture.

Everyone in the starting lineup recorded a hit but Kyle Farmer as the Twins reached double digits in runs for an AL-leading 10th time this season.

But it seemingly just means more to these Twins when Buxton is running like this, launching light-tower blasts like this and having fun like this after a slow offensive start to the season.

“It feels good, especially to struggle the first few months -- still playing decent ball, but just not where you want to be,” Buxton said. “To finally find the thing that clicks is one less thing you really put in your head to worry about.”

The speed came into play in the Twins’ six-run second, when what would have been a normal forceout at second base didn’t become that, because Buxton got from first to second base so quickly -- and by the time D-backs second baseman Ketel Marte realized that, adjusted, and threw to first, batter Willi Castro beat the play there, too.

That loaded the bases -- and six runs later, the Twins had already put the game away.

But in the third inning, Buxton added to the reel as he ran -- no, flew -- to first on a grounder to deep short on which he was clocked at a sprint speed of 31.8 ft/sec, the highest by any Twins player on any individual play this season, setting himself up to score on Castro’s RBI triple.

“This is very reminiscent of what we would see from him when he was just The Flash out there moving around,” Baldelli said. “That's how he's moving. He has this gear that's faster than basically everyone else, but then he has another gear that's above that. And I feel like we saw some of that today. It's very striking.”

“I know I’ve still got it in the tank,” Buxton added.

And only with Buxton could the towering 456-foot homer over the large batter’s eye in center field in the fourth inning be considered a cherry on top, with the blast marking the longest hit by a Twin this season -- lest you forget, among all the frantic running, that Buxton has some of the best raw power on the team, too.

“It’s a very tight swing when it’s going the way that he wants, when he feels good physically, when his timing is right,” Baldelli said. “It is very tight. It is very fast and it is very explosive.”

Buxton’s three hits gave him a .355 average and 1.042 OPS in his last 17 games, dating back to June 7, which has coincided with Correa’s torrid stretch of hitting .427 and, well, Royce Lewis being Lewis, in the combination of star power the Twins had envisioned carrying them through the season.

And when Buxton is at his best, he really makes it click.

“When he hits the ball and starts running around the bases, he makes things happen,” Baldelli said. “His teammates love it when he’s out there and having success and doing a great job because they know how much he cares, how much he puts into it. He has great energy that he brings for the entire ballclub, and so they like to repay him with theirs.”