Twins 7, Blue Jays 2: Gibson, Buxton lead Twins to series win

The Twins came into the game today looking for a series win. They got off to a good start in the first, as Byron Buxton would start one of his best days at the plate with a 2-out RBI single.

The Jays answered in the 2nd, on a Nori Aoki single to score Miguel Montero. Buxton almost threw him out but Chris Gimenez couldn’t get the tag on him.

In the 3rd, Kennys Vargas singled with the bases juiced to drive in 2 runners. In the 4th, Byron made sure we didn’t waste a leadoff triple (from Joe Mauer, of course) by blasting a 2-run blast to left. 5-1, Twins.

Buxton blasted his second HR on a liner to left to make it 6-2, Twins going into the 7th.

For Kyle Gibson, it wasn’t always easy today. In the 2nd, he worked out of a bases loaded, 1-out jam by forcing a double play. Nori Aoki hit a solo shot to right field (5) for the Jays’ 2nd run in the 4th inning. He pitched perfect 5th and 6th innings, and got 2 outs into the 7th before being relieved by Trevor Hildenberger, who got the 3rd out. Gibby’s final line score today was: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. It’s nice to see Kyle string together a couple good starts.

Hildy picked up the final out in the 7th, and then tossed a clean 8th. He was pitching in his third consecutive day, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate the off-day tomorrow.

In the 9th, Buxton hit his 3rd HR of the day, another solo shot to left field. Awesome. It really feels like Buck has turned a corner and it so so so great to see.

Matt Belisle came in to close out the game and did so in a 1-2-3 fashion, picking up a couple strikeouts along the way.

Studs:

Byron Buxton: Duh. 4-5, 5 RBI, 3 HR, SB

Joe Mauer: 2-5, 3B, R

Jorge Polanco: 2-5, 2 2B

Duds:

NO DUDS TWINS WIN!

Robot Roll Call: