The Twins lost in Cleveland Thursday in a rain-delayed (twice), extra-inning loss to the Guardians. That's three straight losses after a winning streak dampening some momentum the team gained going into this road trip.
The Twins now head to Boston for three before returning back to Target Field next week.
At 13-19, and fourth in the competitive AL Central, it's not the start the Twins wanted to get off to - but there's been some bright spots too. The starting pitching has become the strength the Twins' brass thought it would be at the start of the season, and one Twin player in particular deserves a little love - Byron Buxton.
For most of his career, Buxton's biggest accomplishment was just staying on the field. Oft-injured, but dynamic and productive when he's on the field, Buxton is back to making some spectacular catches in centerfield and is also doing it at the plate, and on the base-paths.
So far in 2025, Byron Buxton leads the Twins in: home runs (6), at-bats (114), runs (23), stolen bases (7), slugging (.474), and is second to Ty France in hits, average and OPS.
Those home runs and stolen bases are products of Buxton's rare combination of speed and power and it's there that he joined some elite company in Twins history this past week. Buxton joined the 100 home run and 100 stolen base club. And there are only two other members: Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter. Must be a Twins centerfielder kind of thing.
Buck passed that 100 home run mark a couple of years ago and now has 139 in his career. Then during Wednesday's game in Cleveland, he stole his 100th base making him just the third Twin (and only the 26th active MLB player) to achieve that feat.
The state of baseball in 2025 doesn't value the stolen base like it once did. The days of Lou Brock and Ricky Henderson swiping triple digits all in one season aren't just long gone - they're numbers the modern game doesn't even approach as a team. The Twins stole a grand total of 65 as a team in 2024. Henderson himself stole more than that 10 times during his career.
It's not like Buxton is running wild on the base paths. His career high for steals - 29 in 2017 - are double his second highest total in a season (14 in 2019).
But nonetheless, swiping 100 in a career is a meaningful number in the modern game. Maybe even more impressive? Buxton has only been caught stealing a base only 12 times in his entire career. That 89.3% stolen base percentage is the highest in MLB history among players who have 100 steals. Interestingly, Buxton has never stolen third base. Every swipe across his career has been second.
The Twins can only hope he continues to stay health, as a healthy Buxton has proven to be a serious run producer and run stopper across his increasingly impressive time in Minnesota.
SERIES PREVIEW
Minnesota Twins (13-19, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Boston Red Sox (17-16, second in the AL East)
Boston; Friday, 6:10 p.m. CDT, pregame at 5:30 on 830 WCCO, 102.9 FM and the Audacy app.
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.18 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 39 strikeouts); Red Sox: Brayan Bello (2-0, 3.27 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, seven strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Twins -112, Red Sox -107; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox host the Minnesota Twins on Friday to start a three-game series.
Boston has gone 8-6 in home games and 17-16 overall. The Red Sox have the sixth-best team slugging percentage in MLB play at .418.
Minnesota is 13-19 overall and 4-13 on the road. Twins hitters are batting a collective .235, which ranks ninth in the AL.
The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Alexander Bregman has a .326 batting average to lead the Red Sox, and has 12 doubles and seven home runs. Jarren Duran is 17-for-45 with a home run and six RBI over the last 10 games.
Ty France has three home runs, nine walks and 18 RBI while hitting .281 for the Twins. Byron Buxton is 11-for-41 with a double, a triple, three home runs and eight RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 5-5, .261 batting average, 3.88 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs
Twins: 6-4, .287 batting average, 2.40 ERA, outscored opponents by 24 runs
INJURIES: Red Sox: Kristian Campbell: day-to-day (ribs), Richard Fitts: 15-Day IL (pectoral), Connor Wong: 10-Day IL (hand), Zach Penrod: 60-Day IL (elbow), Masataka Yoshida: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Kutter Crawford: 15-Day IL (knee), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Twins: Luke Keaschall: 10-Day IL (forearm), Willi Castro: 10-Day IL (oblique), Matt Wallner: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Royce Lewis: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Tonkin: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
The Associated Press contributed to this story.