Sept. 13 – Byron Buxton is back. Royce Lewis is coming off a big game. The 6-foot-9-inch Bailey Ober is ready to take the mound.
The Minnesota Twins (78-68) know they are heading into a crucial weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds (71-77) in Minneapolis on Friday night, and they hope they are ready to make it a success.
Minnesota leads the Detroit Tigers by 3 1/2 games for the American League’s final wild-card spot. The Twins can’t afford to lose ground with 16 games remaining.
“It’s imperative,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We have to find a way to win any way we can.”
The same goes for Buxton, an exciting and oft-injured outfielder who has been out with a hip injury since Aug. 12. The Twins plan to activate him from the injured list on Friday.
Buxton, 30, hit .275 with 16 home runs, 49 RBIs and six stolen bases in 90 games this season. His .862 OPS ranks second among the team’s qualified hitters behind the injured Carlos Correa.
Buxton’s arrival has energized Lewis and the other Twins regulars.
“It’s very exciting,” said Lewis, who went 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs in a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. “I think it’s great for everybody because no matter how we feel or what’s happened in the past, it’s a ray of hope.”
Reds right-hander Julian Aguirre (1-0, 5.06 ERA) will try to spoil the Twins’ good experience. The rookie from Long Beach, California, is expected to make his sixth career start.
Aguilar was held to a no-decision against the New York Mets on Sunday. In 4 2/3 scoreless innings, he allowed two hits, allowed two runs and struck out two.
This will be Aguilar’s first career game against the Twins.
Minnesota will face Ober (12-6, 3.77), a right-hander who has struck out 162 batters in 155 innings. He has allowed one run in 13 starts over his last two starts against the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals.
Ober, 29, faced Cincinnati twice in his career and compiled a 0–0 record with an ERA of 5.79.
The Reds will try to bounce back from a 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. Cincinnati had just four hits and no extra bases, with Jonathan India driving in the team’s single.
Reds head coach David Bell praised Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray for getting better results in Cincinnati’s lineup. Gray was teammates with Ober the past two seasons with the Twins.
“Sonny was very good from the start,” Bell said. “We created chances early in the innings but we couldn’t get the big hits. Sonny did a good job of limiting the damage and bowling it out.”
If Reds shortstop Eli De La Cruz gets on base, he could test the Twins’ catchers. De La Cruz has 64 stolen bases this season, 16 more than the second-leading player in the majors (Shohei Ohtani, 48).
Reds outfielder Will Benson’s status for the series opener is uncertain after he left Thursday’s game with a finger injury. Benson injured his left middle finger while trying to lay down a bunt.
–Visual-level media
