A 10-Run Inning Brought the Twins Back to Life — Then Byron Buxton Left Them Again

Just over a week ago, the Minnesota Twins looked like a team whose playoff odds were circling the drain. After losing five of six — including a dispiriting series defeat at the hands of the Athletics — the club's postseason outlook had sagged to its lowest point of the summer. Their .479 winning percentage (67-73) leaves them third in the AL Central, and with the White Sox and Guardians ahead of them in the division race, the only realistic path to October runs straight through the Wild Card.

So how did Minnesota respond? With the most explosive week of its season. The Twins buried Detroit with a 10-run sixth inning, then followed it with a 15-2 demolition of the Tigers that featured a vintage offensive outburst from a lineup that suddenly can't stop scoring. Add an 11-1 rout on either side of those games, and Minnesota has piled up 58 runs across its last nine contests. The surges have pushed the bats' 20-game OPS to .758, and for a few glorious nights at Target Field, the Twins have looked exactly like the deadline-buying contender they insisted they were in August.

The Offense Is Papering Over a Sinking Pitching Staff

Here's the uncomfortable truth hiding behind the double-digit scores: Minnesota's rotation is being held together with tape and hope. Pablo López and David Festa are both on the 60-day injured list. Joe Ryan is working back from a glute strain that landed him on the 15-day IL, with the club hoping he returns during the upcoming road trip. That's left an enormous burden on young arms, most notably Zebby Matthews.

Matthews has been the unlikely stabilizer. He delivered 8⅓ innings of one-run ball on Aug. 30, his second straight quality start, and owns a 9-8 record with a 4.58 ERA across 19 starts. But the splits tell a delicate story: his home ERA is a sterling 2.84, while that number balloons to 6.38 on the road. The team's overall pitching staff carries a 4.32 ERA, and its 1.32 WHIP ranks near the middle of the pack at best. The Twins won't survive September if they need to outscore everyone, every night.

Buxton's Hip Is the Cruelest Recurring Theme

Just as the bats found their rhythm, Minnesota lost its most dynamic offensive presence again. Byron Buxton was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hip impingement — the same injury that sidelined him in July and forced him out of Tuesday's loss to the Athletics when the hip flared up again. It's his third IL stint of the season related to the right hip.

Buxton's overall numbers remain strong — a .254 average with 25 home runs and an .830 OPS in 93 games — but his production had cratered before the shutdown. Over his final 15 games, he hit just .132 with zero home runs, striking out at a 24.6 percent clip. The Twins stress they're hopeful he returns this season, but the franchise has learned not to count on that.

His absence has accelerated the debut of top prospect Walker Jenkins, called up as the corresponding move. Jenkins has shown flashes — one home run in his first six games — but he's hitting just .150 with a .292 on-base percentage.

The Tightrope Ahead

Minnesota's formula for the stretch run is now uncomfortably clear: keep the offense explosive enough to forgive a patchwork rotation, and pray that Ryan's return shores up the staff before the blowouts turn back into losses. The bats bought the Twins a pulse this week. Whether the pitching can keep it beating is the September question that will define their season.