MINNEAPOLIS -- Byron Buxton readily acknowledges that he isn’t feeling 100 percent, and manager Rocco Baldelli is open in noting that his center fielder likely won’t be able to play every day.

But with 16 games to go in the regular season, it’s all hands on deck for the stretch run -- and that urgency to get Buxton back on the roster paid off when he homered in his first game since Aug. 12 and showcased the outburst of energy that had desperately been needed in the Twins’ dugout amid their recent slump.

While it looks like the Twins will also get Carlos Correa and Max Kepler back in the coming days, there’s no more pitching walking through that door -- and even Buxton’s returning star power couldn’t shake that reality in the Twins’ 8-4 loss to the Reds on Friday at Target Field.

The defeat reduced the Twins’ slimming lead in the AL Wild Card race to 2 1/2 games over the Tigers, who nearly twirled a combined no-hitter in beating the Orioles on Friday -- though the Twins hold the tiebreaker. That’s the same 2 1/2-game deficit that separates the Twins from the Royals for the second Wild Card spot.

That’s why Buxton is back on the roster at less than full health -- and his swing illustrated how much help even that can give the Twins down the stretch.

“It’s good enough for me to go out there and compete and battle,” Buxton said. “And for me, that’s good enough for myself. I know I can go out there and help the team and contribute in any possible way. It’s just one of those things where you look at where you’re at and you push through things sometimes.”

Buxton had missed 28 games with the right hip inflammation that sent him to the IL on Aug. 15 and caused a setback during his attempt at a rehab assignment in early September.

But after hitting against the Class A pitchers, the Twins brought him to Target Field to mimic the live at-bats of a rehab assignment earlier this week. Buxton and the Twins simply determined that was good enough. The Twins will keep a close eye on him, and how he comes out of Friday’s game will educate how the Twins approach his playing time.

“I can’t tell you we really were super deliberate here and were able to take our time in every way,” Baldelli said. “We have 16 games left. So he was very eager to get himself back on the field and in the lineup.”

It seems the Twins could very well take a similar approach with Correa, who seems to be in the final stages of his own return progression and was smilingly cryptic when asked about his timeline in the clubhouse before Friday’s game.

Earlier this homestand, when Correa noted that a new training routine he discovered had his right heel feeling much better on a day-to-day basis, he said he felt physically able to play. He’s been furiously catching up on live at-bats -- and if the Twins are willing to push Buxton back to see what he has in these last few weeks, Correa might as well do the same at this point.

“We also are hopeful that we have another guy or two coming back in the next few days,” Baldelli said. “So whatever move we made yesterday could be followed with corresponding moves if we’re able to get Correa and [Max Kepler] back.”

So, that’s where the Twins now stand: Once Correa and Kepler return, essentially their entire Opening Day position player group will finally be whole again, with an important four-game series against Cleveland coming up and roughly two weeks’ worth of games to see how well Buxton and Correa can ramp up ahead of the postseason.

“From the present on, and looking toward the future, to have Buck or Correa, all these guys coming back, it seems like, it just gives us hope,” Royce Lewis said. “Having them around is huge.”

It’s been a rough month or so for the Twins, but this always looked like their endgame -- to hit the home stretch at as close to full strength as they could, and to see how far that could take them.

And a thrilled Buxton is leading the charge.

“Just to be able to finish the season, the regular season healthy and going about my business, that’s exciting for me,” Buxton said.

“Getting Buck back today is enormous,” Baldelli said. “On the field, and in that room over there, in the clubhouse, it means an incredible amount. We all know we’re just a better club. We’re going to win more games when we have that guy healthy, on the field, and playing.”