Byron Buxton wasn't particularly excited that his first-inning home run was measured by Statcast at 466 feet, the second-longest of his career only to the 469-foot walk-off he hit against Liam Hendriks in April 2022.
Byron Buxton's two booming home runs are an MLB first in the StatCast era
The Twins designated hitter wasn't overly excited about hitting two of the three longest homers of his career.
June 23, 2023 at 11:58AM
And he didn't care much that his second home run, and team-high 13th of the season, two innings later sailed only one foot shorter.
"It doesn't matter as long as we win," Buxton said after passing Roy Smalley Jr. on the Twins' career home run list with 111. "They all count the same, so if they go over, they all feel good."
It's a nice reversal, however, for the Twins' cleanup hitter, who ended an 0-for-24 slump on Tuesday and has gone 5-for-11 with a double and three home runs since — including two in a 6-0 victory over the Red Sox on Thursday at Target Field.
The home runs were the first time since MLB introduced StatCast in 2015 that a player has hit two home runs of more than 460 feet in the same game.
"If you get out of your own head, you tend to do a lot more [good] things," Buxton said. "For me, it's letting go of those last three days, four days, and turning that page."
Keuchel signs minor league deal
Dallas Keuchel has beaten the Twins a half-dozen times during his 11-year career, including twice as recently as two summers ago. Now the Twins will see if Carlos Correa's former teammate has enough left to win a few games for them.
Keuchel, who won 101 games over his career and the 2015 AL Cy Young Award while with the Astros, signed a minor league contract with the Twins on Thursday. He'll report to Class AAA St. Paul, with an eye toward returning to the major leagues.
Keuchel bounced around unsuccessfully with three teams last year, allowing 47 runs over 42 innings with the White Sox, Diamondbacks and Rangers, and appeared headed toward retirement when Texas released him on Sept. 4. But the Tulsa native has been working toward a return, and impressed the Twins enough to earn a look, on a contract that has little risk for the Twins.
"We're glad to have him in the organization and give him an opportunity to pitch and show all the things he's been working on," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the lefthander, who owns a 3.98 career ERA. "Everyone has to earn their opportunities. But seeing him back out there is a good thing, and I'm glad we got him."
Should Keuchel earn a promotion, he would become the sixth former Cy Young winner, besides their own trio of honorees (Jim Perry, Frank Viola and Johan Santana), to pitch for the Twins, joining Dean Chance, Mike Marshall, Steve Carlton, Steve Bedrosian and Bartolo Colon. In addition, R.A. Dickey pitched for the Twins three years before winning the NL award.
Bally status awaits
The Bally Sports networks have decided to keep the Rangers but dump the Diamondbacks. The Twins may learn as soon as this weekend their own status on Bally Sports North.
Diamond Sports Group, parent company of the 19 Bally-branded regional sports networks, on Thursday filed a motion in bankruptcy court in Houston seeking to terminate their contract with the Diamondbacks, citing huge losses on the deal that was supposed to run through 2035. Like the Twins, the Diamondbacks are due a large rights-fee payment on July 1, money that Bally Sports Arizona no longer wants to pay.
An emergency hearing has been scheduled for next Thursday, when a federal judge will rule on whether the bankrupt network can shed that contract. Diamond Sports would have to give the Twins similar notice and request a hearing, either separate from or combined with the Diamondbacks, before halting its broadcasts of their games. That process means the Twins should learn within the next few days whether Diamond plans to fulfill its contract, which is scheduled to expire this October, or allow MLB to take over airing the games.
Bally Sports Southwest earlier this month indicated, by making an on-time payment, its intention to continue to broadcast Rangers games. The Twins have said they expect Bally Sports North to finish the season televising their games, in a deal worth $54.8 million for broadcast rights plus more than $5 million for limited streaming rights for its own customers and other considerations. Diamond Sports CEO David Preschlack testified in court that the network loses money on the contract.
Saints' homer streak ends
The St. Paul Saints lost 6-0 to the host Toledo Mud Hens, ending their 25-game streak with at least one home run. With the bases loaded and none out in the third inning, Matt Wallner struck out and Trevor Larnach lined into a double play.
The St. Petersburg City Council reversed course Thursday on whether to spend more than $23 million to repair the hurricane-shredded roof of the Tampa Bay Rays' ballpark, initially voting narrowly for approval and hours later changing course.
