Big nights from Brooks Lee, David Festa, Byron Buxton pace Twins over Tigers

New York Times

16 hours ago

DETROIT — He always looks for a fastball to hit, but Brooks Lee really wanted this one. Batting with the schizophrenic Twins ahead by two runs in the sixth inning Friday night against the first-place Detroit Tigers, Lee hoped to provide his team and pitcher a little breathing room.
Similar to his performance the past month, Lee achieved his goal. Rather than try to do too much with a four-seam fastball, Lee stayed up the middle with his approach and deposited a single in center field to drive in a crucial run.
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Lee's two run-scoring hits, a sterling performance by David Festa, another big game from Byron Buxton and even a run-scoring bunt paced the Twins to a 4-1 victory in the series opener at Comerica Park, the team's third straight victory. Festa struck out six in 5 2/3 scoreless innings, Buxton belted his 18th homer and stole a base and Lee stayed red hot.
Despite losing 11 of 12 before their current win streak, the Twins are only two games back of the final spot in what remains a wide-open American League wild-card race.
'He's showing a lot of different tricks and different adjustments he can make,' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Lee. 'He looks really comfortable. He always looks like he knows what to do next. You have to be on your toes because pitchers are going to make a lot of good adjustments. … When they've done that, he's done different things. He's come right back at them.'
Lee has done many things over the past month for the Twins. Almost all could be described as wonderful.
While the stretch hasn't been perfect — Lee recently had a rough defensive day, and there was the game-ending strikeout Sunday in which he didn't run out the play to first base — it's been pretty close.
Since May 28, Lee has hit safely in 25 of 26 games, including a 20-game hitting streak which ended Sunday with the aforementioned strikeout. Over 26 games, Lee is batting .350/.375/.510 with four doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs.
A day after he homered to stretch the lead to three runs in another tight game, which ended with a blowout victory over Seattle, Lee got the Twins going in the Motor City.
Double double animal style! pic.twitter.com/VhmcQZG0V1
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 28, 2025
He broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the fourth inning, pulling a 1-0 cut fastball from ex-Twins farmhand Sawyer Gipson-Long down the first-base line to drive in Matt Wallner, who also doubled.
Buxton extended the lead to two runs with a massive, two-out, solo homer in the fifth off Gipson-Long. Though the two-run cushion was nice, recently, no lead has been safe with the way the Twins have been pitching.
Enter Lee, who spent the entire offseason gearing himself up to hit the fastball following a disappointing end to his rookie season. For his entire career, back to Little League, Lee said he's always punished fastballs.
He didn't in 2024, finishing his rookie season batting .193 against four-seamers. His struggles forced Lee to refocus his efforts ahead of spring training, and the effort is paying off.
Though back and shoulder injuries very likely played a part in last season's struggles, Lee spent the winter refining his swing to make it more compact. The adjustment has Lee in a better position to impact the ball, whether he's trying to pull it for power or line it back up the middle.
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Facing reliever lefty reliever Brant Hurter with runners on the corners and one out in the sixth, Lee hoped for a fastball at the top of the zone. Though the 0-1 pitch was a little lower than he expected, Lee jumped on it and ripped it for a run-scoring single.
Lee entered Friday hitting .375 on fastballs, according to Baseball Savant.
'I'm probably going to get a lot off-speed pitches, but when I do get a fastball that's there, it's a gift,' Lee said. 'It's the straightest ball in the game. I should hit it. It should be the easiest pitch to hit for me, and it all centers around my approach. I just want to be on the fastball for most of my at-bats. I really think it's been working, but I have to continue to stay on top of it because it can go away.'
The Twins added a fourth run in the seventh when Buxton walked, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored to make it 4-0 on Willi Castro's sacrifice bunt.
Despite a Jekyll and Hyde-type season, the Twins aren't going away yet. Following their 1-11 stretch, the Twins fell to five games under .500. Suddenly, they're 40-42 and only 2 1/2 back of Seattle, though they'd have to leapfrog four teams to earn a wild-card spot.
One reason the Twins were so down and out was a heinous 17-game stretch by the pitching staff, which yielded nine runs eight times. But suddenly, the Twins look as if they might rediscover the form that made them one of baseball's top pitching staffs before the injury to Pablo López.
Festa delivered the third straight gem by a Twins starting pitcher as he followed in the footsteps of Joe Ryan and Simeon Woods Richardson with a scoreless outing.
Leaning heavily on his slider while mixing in a changeup and both fastballs, Festa cruised through all but one inning. He set down the side in order in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings, retiring 12 in a row at one point.
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'(The slider) felt good, it felt good getting ahead and putting away,' Festa said. 'They say hitting's contagious — I think pitching is as well. We're just trying to stack good outings on good outings.'
Festa only slowed down in the second inning when he hit a batter and yielded a two-out single. But Festa, who generated nine swings-and-misses in 75 pitches, remained composed and induced an inning-ending comebacker off Dillon Dingler's bat. He wouldn't allow another base runner until two outs in the sixth inning.
Along with his six strikeouts, Festa walked none and limited Detroit to two hits. After posting a 6.85 ERA over their previous 17 games, Twins starting pitchers have produced 18 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, including the final two from Chris Paddack's start on Tuesday.
Lee, Buxton, Castro and the Twins' bullpen made sure it counted.
That's a NO DOUBTER from Byron Buxton!!!! pic.twitter.com/HHz1Cc5sI1
— Twins.TV (@twinstv) June 28, 2025
For Lee, it's another sign over the past month that his bat still has the potential that led the Twins to select him with the eighth pick of the 2022 amateur draft.
'It's been good,' Lee said. 'I can't complain. I'm still working as hard as I can to make sure both of my swings are on point. Try to come to the ballpark and try to get better every single day. It's all I can do. I can't control the wins and losses, but I can help.'
(Top photo of Brooks Lee: Lon Horwedel / Imagn Images)