Twins' internal trust pays off post-Deadline

NEW YORK -- In the wake of the Twins’ relative inactivity at Tuesday evening’s Trade Deadline, they emphasized that they have to trust -- and do trust -- that they already had the pieces in place within their clubhouse to match up against other good teams.

The prove-it phase began on Wednesday.

Internal improvements indeed loomed large in the 8-3 victory that helped the Twins avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Mets on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field, as Matt Wallner and Byron Buxton both went deep and Pablo López continued his second-half surge for a Minnesota team that will need major contributions from all of them -- and more -- to push into October.

“I think that just shows how much trust we've got in ourselves and how much trust they've got in us,” Buxton said. “We know we've got a wonderful team. Our chemistry is what makes us thrive.”

After losing the first two games of the series by a combined 17-2 score, the Twins wrested control of the finale with a five-run third inning in which their first five batters knocked hits, capped by a Statcast-estimated 442-foot blast by Wallner that helped him claim the team OPS lead as he has roared back into the Twins’ plans following a challenging start to his sophomore season.

But there’s arguably no more improvement from within that will prove more significant to the Twins than López’s quest to rebound from his disappointing first half and serve as a reliable anchor to a Minnesota rotation that has to rely heavily on its youth down the stretch and, perhaps, into the postseason.

Signs remained encouraging on Wednesday, when López tossed a third consecutive quality start by allowing two runs on three hits and three walks in six innings -- both runs coming on a Mark Vientos homer -- against a Mets team that entered the game with the most wins and best record in baseball since June 2.

“I believe that the group that’s already in there is going to help elevate us the rest of the way,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “But I also think that group knows that once you get through the Deadline, you look at each other and you know this is the group you’re going to battle with.”

Wednesday’s outing made it five earned runs allowed in 20 innings to begin the second half for López, who entered the All-Star break with a 5.11 ERA and was open about the disappointment of that first half and his gratitude that he remained healthy, which would give him a chance to turn that around as the games grew more significant.

Ultimately, what the Twins will now have to count on is the notion that the roster that pushed into one of the three American League Wild Card slots and sits at 59-48 despite having played without contributions from Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, Wallner and Royce Lewis for large chunks of the season still has more to show.

It helps that the Twins have Buxton continuing to play like a superstar while again manning center field, Carlos Correa potentially set to return in the coming weeks and Wallner locked in seemingly even beyond where he was as he helped resurrect the Twins’ offense in the second half of last season.

Wallner’s homer and subsequent double to left field -- which would have left the yard had Tyrone Taylor not knocked it back into play with his glove -- raised his season OPS to .990 even following his 2-for-25 start to the season prior to a lengthy demotion to Triple-A St. Paul.

That includes a .364/.451/.818 slash line with a 1.269 OPS since he was called back up on July 7, which has stabilized the Twins’ corner outfield picture in Kirilloff’s continued absence.

“Honestly, I don't feel, like, crazy insane good,” Wallner said. “I just feel like I'm getting the right pitches to hit. I'm still swinging and missing. It's not like I'm not missing anything.”

The Twins were in a similar spot this time last year, when they stood pat at the Deadline and got contributions from within to push them over the top to a division title.

They obviously could have used help -- but in the absence of major additions, they simply have to move forward, and they maintain their faith in themselves.

“You bulk up, put your mind to it and just go get the job done,” Buxton said. “Everybody in here trusts each other.”