In a pivotal series with the top two teams in the American League Central vying for the division advantage, the Twins had their franchise star on the field for only one of the three games.
And while the Twins avoided a Cleveland sweep and reclaimed a share of the division lead with a 1-0 victory Thursday, the feat was undoubtedly harder without Byron Buxton.
Buxton has dealt with a right knee injury since the end of spring training, well before a slide into second at Boston in early May made the issue public. He has seen doctors and undergone imaging and testing, which all revealed no structural damage. So the Twins devised a plan: treat the knee as much as possible, let Buxton play through it and give him days off every week or so to help him manage.
But missing Wednesday's and Thursday's games wasn't foreseen. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said Buxton was in so much pain that he could not productively swing the bat or run, two very key parts of being a major league center fielder.
Buxton said he noticed his pain increasing on the off day Monday and did some work pregame before playing Tuesday. He said that "didn't go well," and trainers checked out his knee again postgame. Having to miss most of a divisional series was "unfortunate timing," per Buxton.
"You never know. See how you wake up," Buxton said of how the discomfort varies by day. "It's just one of those things where I know I've got to deal with it. Make sure I stay on top of it and not try to push through things where I know my teammates have got my back."
Baldelli said that many times Buxton has not felt his best but still played. Both Baldelli and Buxton said they're hopeful he can return when the Twins start a series with Colorado on Friday.
It's common knowledge that the Twins are more successful when Buxton is in the lineup, but the often-injured 28-year-old has cracked 100-plus games in a season just once in his previous seven seasons. His seven-year, $100 million contract extension this past offseason includes escalators written in to reward him for reaching 502-plus plate appearances in a season.