Byron Buxton joins 20-20 club with first steal of third base as Twins top Padres

Immediately after the Twins’ 7-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night, Byron Buxton walked into manager Rocco Baldelli’s office with a smile on his face and ready to serve up high fives.

Buxton, the All-Star center fielder and five-tool talent, did something he hadn’t done in his previous 872 career games. He finally stole third base.

“Just seeing the smile on his face after the game, there’s not too many things that he’s still doing for the first time,” Baldelli said. “It’s Byron Buxton.”

There was a lot to celebrate as the Twins offense wore down Padres pitching in a three-hour, one-minute game. They stole four more bases, with Buxton stealing two. They notched a dozen hits. Trevor Larnach, batting ninth, had three hits against three lefthanded pitchers, the first Twins lefthanded hitter to accomplish that in the past three seasons.

When Buxton swiped third in the third inning, after driving in a run on a fielder’s choice grounder, it was his 20th stolen base of the season. Matched with his 27 homers, Buxton claimed his first 20-20 season. He is the seventh player in team history to achieve the feat and the first since Brian Dozier in 2014.

Somehow, it was only the second time Buxton attempted to steal third in his career. He was thrown out by Atlanta’s A.J. Pierzynski on July 26, 2016, one of the 12 times the most successful basestealer in MLB history has been caught.

“You can’t say enough about him,” Larnach said. “The year he’s had — and he’s been healthy thankfully — I think he’s the best center fielder in the game. Maybe biased, maybe not, I don’t care. I think he is.”

It’s been an impressive week for the Twins offense, which scored seven runs in a third consecutive game.

The Twins sent all nine of their hitters to the plate during a fourth inning that was four score and what felt like seven years. Padres starter Nestor Cortes allowed the first two batters to reach base, then the infield converged for a stalling tactic disguised as a mound visit.

After a lengthy mound visit, with manager Mike Shildt on the top step of the dugout as reliever Wandy Peralta warmed up, plate umpire Manny Gonzalez ejected Cortes. There wasn’t much of an argument afterward as Shildt seemingly planned to remove Cortes anyway.

Royce Lewis greeted Peralta with a single, loading the bases with no out. Kody Clemens followed with a ground ball that bounced between second baseman Jake Cronenworth’s legs. What should have been a double-play grounder instead was an error that left runners on second and third as two runs scored. Two pitches later, Larnach slapped a grounder through the middle of a drawn-in infield for a two-run single and a 5-2 lead.

“Just preparing and learning from each at-bat,” said Larnach, who entered Friday batting .184 against lefties this year. “I’ve tried several things throughout the year. You can only do that with the opportunity.”

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Lewis hit a two-out homer off David Morgan in the fifth inning, connecting on a down-the-middle slider in a two-strike count. Morgan immediately bent at the waist and yelled in frustration. It was Lewis’ ninth homer of the season and his fourth in his past 11 games.

The next three Twins batters reached base after Lewis’ home run, including an RBI single from Buxton. From the third inning through the sixth, the Twins had a staggering 17 batters reach base.

“Let’s be honest, there is not a lot to lose right now,” Larnach said. “We’re playing pretty aggressive. I think that’s a great way to play. Up and down the lineup, guys have great at-bats, they’re running first to third, stealing bags. I think it’s fun.”

Twins righthander Zebby Matthews, who seemingly sat around more than he pitched, completed a six-inning start for the third time this season. He yielded seven hits and three runs (two earned). He struck out only three batters, his lowest total this year, but he was constantly on the attack with a first-pitch strike to 19 of his 24 batters.