Byron Buxton, Josh Bell homer and Twins bullpen is lights out in win over Rangers

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jun 15, 2026

Published in Baseball

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Eleven years and one day after Byron Buxton made his major league debut in Arlington, Texas, a highly anticipated arrival for one sport’s best athletes, he’s a hitter at the peak of his powers.

Buxton is the reigning American League player of the week, the second time this season he has earned the award, and he belted a solo homer to left field in the sixth inning to help the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night at Globe Life Field.

Rangers left-hander MacKenzie Gore surrendered a three-run homer to Josh Bell in the first inning, then retired 13 of his next 14 batters with seven outs via strikeout. Then Buxton saw Gore for a third time and clubbed a 90-mph cutter for his 23rd home run of the season.

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez and Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber are the only major leaguers with more home runs (24), and they are both designated hitters. Buxton has homered six times in his past nine games.

Twins manager Derek Shelton spent two years around Buxton as a bench coach from 2018-19, two injury-plagued seasons, but watching Buxton now is a different experience. He called Buxton’s 425-foot homer on a low-and-away slider from St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Kyle Leahy on Friday “maybe the best swing I’ve ever seen him take,” and he was still talking about it two days later.

“You don’t see people hit line drives, especially [at Target Field], out of the ballpark to center field,” Shelton explained. “I can’t quantify why he’s doing that, but damn, it looks good.”

Gore struck out a season-high 10 batters over seven innings, his longest outing across his past 32 starts. The 2025 All-Star with Washington overpowered hitters with a 96-mph fastball at the top of the strike zone while generating more swings-and-misses with his changeup and cutter.

Austin Martin opened the game with a double on a 0-2 count, and Royce Lewis drew a two-out walk. Bell, who grew up in the Dallas area, followed with his three-run homer when he golfed a low-and-inside curveball over the left-field wall.

The Twins totaled only four hits, but they turned it into four runs.

Buxton, who struck out in his first two at-bats, crushed his 398-foot homer in the sixth inning. The only Twins player who compiled more homers than Buxton in the team’s first 79 games was Harmon Killebrew in 1964 when the Hall of Famer hit 28.

For Shelton, he has enjoyed watching Buxton’s evolution. When he was a bench coach, Buxton was an emerging talent. Now, he’s the leader of the organization.

“It’s his team, his room,” Shelton said. “The leadership he provides and what he’s doing on the field this year has been really fun to watch. Just seeing him grow into the man he is, the husband he is, the father he is, the person he is, it’s gratifying.”

Big day for bullpen

Twins rookie right-hander Mike Paredes was efficient, yielding four hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings, and the Twins bullpen recorded 13 outs while giving up one hit and zero runs.

Rangers leadoff hitter Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer off Paredes in the third inning, blasting a first-pitch cutter that hovered over the middle of the plate, but the rest of the night belonged to the Twins bullpen, which responded with its second consecutive strong outing.

Taylor Rogers struck out Pederson with a runner on second base to end the fifth inning. Andrew Morris struck out two batters in a scoreless sixth. Eric Orze gave up one hit over 1 2/3 innings — a single to Pederson in the eighth — before Yoendrys Gómez recorded a four-out save.

Stat of the day

Buxton had a slow start to the season, which he attributed to limited at-bats in the World Baseball Classic during spring training. In his past 48 games, he is hitting .302 with 23 homers, 35 RBI and 39 runs while posting a 1.040 OPS.

Minor league moves

Outfielder Alan Roden completed his rehab assignment in Fort Myers, Fla., and will rejoin the Class AAA St. Paul Saints on Tuesday. Roden missed nearly two months because of a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

Walker Jenkins, the Twins’ top-rated prospect, will continue his rehab assignment at high-Class A Cedar Rapids this week. He played one game as a designated hitter in Fort Myers on Saturday, going 4 for 5 with a double and a homer, but Sunday’s game was rained out when he was scheduled to play in the outfield.

Up next

The Twins will continue their series against the Rangers at 8:05 p.m. ET Tuesday before a rare midseries off day because of the World Cup next door at AT&T Stadium. Zebby Matthews (2-4, 5.20 ERA) will look to rebound after giving up seven runs in his previous start. The Rangers are starting right-hander Kumar Rocker (2-5, 3.56).

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