Byron Buxton homers twice, earns bonus as Twins shut out Rangers 4-0

When Byron Buxton busted out his usual “Buck Truck” celebration after hitting a three-run homer in the eighth inning Thursday at Globe Life Park, it should’ve had a cha-ching sound effect.

In a 4-0 victory over the Texas Rangers, Buxton homered twice, drove in all four runs and netted himself a cool $500,000 bonus as he hit one of his contract incentives.

Bailey Ober added six scoreless innings and the Twins won a series for the first time in September, taking two of three games against a Rangers team that was eliminated from postseason contention Tuesday and looked lifeless with only three hits in the series finale.

With the Twins still up 1-0 in the eighth inning after Buxton led off the game with a home run for a second day in a row, Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez opened with back-to-back singles off Rangers reliever Chris Martin. That brought up Buxton, who sent a first-pitch cutter over the center-field wall for a three-run homer.

“He’s in the process of capping off a pretty historic year,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who celebrated his 44th birthday Thursday, told reporters in Arlington, Texas. “My guess is he’s going to get a whole bunch of MVP votes and Silver Slugger votes.”

Buxton netted $500,000 on the same swing he hit his 34th home run of the season because it was his 533rd plate appearance, one of the incentives from the seven-year, $100 million contract extension he signed in 2021.

Buxton, who has earned $1 million through plate appearance incentives on top of his $15 million base salary, will make another $3 million if he finishes in the top 10 of the American League MVP voting, which will be revealed in November.

“Three more games left [in Philadelphia], so there is still baseball to be played,” Buxton said on the Twins TV broadcast. “I just have to be grateful to be able to put on this uniform, and come out here and play. Every chance you get to step out here, don’t waste it.”

Buxton opened Thursday’s game by depositing a 90-mph fastball — the first pitch from former teammate Tyler Mahle — to center for his 10th leadoff homer. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is the only player with more leadoff homers this season, opening 12 games with a home run.

Mahle entered Thursday with a 0.74 ERA and zero homers in nine home starts for Texas this year. Then Buxton saw an elevated fastball, and he pumped his fist when the ball landed in the Twins bullpen. Buxton’s 19 career leadoff homers trail only Jacque Jones (20) and Brian Dozier (28) in team history.

In six games against the Rangers this year, Buxton had nine hits in 22 at-bats with four homers, two doubles, nine RBI and six runs.

“We’ve been able to watch Buck for a long time,” Baldelli said. “We know what he does and how pretty incredible it is to watch. To have the rest of the league and the opposing teams get a chance to see him every day, and take notice of his phenomenal contributions, that makes us feel good, too.”

Ober threw only one fastball above 90 mph Thursday, which has been a source of frustration for him throughout the year, but there were other numbers that provided more solace: It was his first scoreless start of the season.

Despite diminished velocity, it was a pitching clinic. He gave up two singles and a walk, striking out five.

“It looked like vintage Bailey,” Baldelli said.

BOXSCORE: Twins 4, Texas 0

MLB standings

“You’re out there every fifth or sixth day, and your body kind of reverts back to what it’s been doing for months, so it’s very hard to make big changes during a long season like this,” Ober told reporters in Texas. “It’s definitely going to feel good to have some down time and take that mental break. It’s been probably the most challenging year I’ve ever had in baseball.”