Mick Abel overpowers Phillies, Byron Buxton hits 35th homer as Twins win penultimate game 5-0

PHILADELPHIA – The first time Mick Abel pitched at Citizens Bank Park this season, on May 18 for his major league debut, he pitched six scoreless innings, struck out nine batters and he outdueled National League Cy Young Award favorite Paul Skenes.

Back again four months later, Abel decided it was time for an encore.

No, he didn’t pitch against Skenes, but the rest of it sounded familiar. Abel quieted a potent Philadelphia Phillies lineup with six shutout innings, permitting three hits and one walk, and he matched his season high with nine strikeouts in a 5-0 victory against his former team Saturday.

Byron Buxton smacked his 35th home run of the season — he has hit four in the past four days — to jump-start the Twins to their fourth victory over their past six games.

The Phillies remain quite happy with their end of the trade, acquiring closer Jhoan Duran, but the Twins are hopeful Abel will be a regular part of their rotation next year. It wasn’t hard to imagine Abel filling a bigger role with the way he pitched in his last start of the season.

“When our flight landed here [Thursday], I already had the juices flowing,” said Abel, who was the Phillies’ first-round draft pick in 2020.

Abel struck out nine batters and didn’t throw more than 16 pitches in any inning. He had four separate putaway pitches: four-seam fastball (four strikeouts), curveball (three), changeup (one) and slider (one). Harrison Bader and Bryce Harper both struck out twice against him.

Abel, who compiled six strikeouts against his first eight batters, looked in complete control. He threw a first-pitch strike to 15 of his 21 batters, and he never let in. There were two runners on base in the fourth inning after Harper drew a walk and Brandon Marsh hit a two-out single, but he induced a foul out against J.T. Realmuto.

With lefty Kody Funderburk warming in the bullpen, Baldelli opted to let Abel face the top of the Phillies lineup for a third time in the sixth inning. Abel induced two groundouts before striking out Harper on three pitches, Harper flailing at a low curveball on the final pitch. It was pure domination.

“Guys that have seven pitches can do a lot of different things,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “We can kind of play the game a little bit more. I can move you here, I’ll slow you down, I’ll speed you up. He had everything working.”

Twins starting pitchers have given up six earned runs in their past seven games.

Fellow starting pitcher Joe Ryan said he believes “the trajectory of the organization is positive.” He credited the coaching staff for implementing more aggressive baserunning, putting more pressure on other teams, and he has been impressed with the young pitchers.

Abel posted an 8.36 ERA in 14 innings with the Twins, but that is mostly inflated from his first two horrendous outings. He gave up four hits and two runs over his final 10 innings.

“It’s the kind of arm that you want to just give to your pitching group, give him a little time to work with them and see what they can do,” Baldelli said, “because that’s the kind of guy that can end up pitching not just in a major league rotation but in a prominent spot.”

BOXSCORE: Twins 5, Philadelphia 0

MLB standings

Buxton drilled a leadoff homer on lefthander Ranger Suárez’s sixth pitch, a cutter that sat over the heart of the plate. It was Buxton’s third leadoff homer within the past week, and his 11th this season, which matches Jacque Jones’ team record set in 2002.