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After turning in a highlight reel catch earlier in the Minnesota Twins showdown against the Washington Nationals, All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton had fans concerned when he left the game with an apparent injury.
Failing to record a hit in his first three at-bats, Buxton exited the game with left side soreness and was replaced by Trevor Larnach, who landed in right field as Willi Castro moved to left, and Harrison Bader transitioned over to center field.
Coming into the game with a 50-53 record, the Twins secured the first win of the series against the Nationals 1-0 and hoped to parlay that into their first series sweep since mid-May, when the team secured three-straight wins over the Baltimore Orioles in the middle of a 13-game win streak. Instead, the team found themselves on the defensive seemingly from the jump, with the Nationals going up 5-0 by the end of the fifth inning and creating a hole that even a hot Minnesota sixth inning couldn't overcome.
Despite matching the Nationals hit for hit, with each team earning a dozen over the course of the game, Mitchell Parker kept the batters he faced inside the park, with Washington's bullpen largely picking up the slack behind him, even if things got somewhat dicey for Jackson Rutledge in the eighth. The Twins ended up losing the game 3-9, their 54th loss of the season, and now find themselves in a tough spot heading into the 2025 MLB trade deadline; a condition made all the more challenging, considering Buxton is now listed as day-to-day moving forward with side soreness.
While the Twins may end up being sellers before the end of the month, with Bader among the players coming up in rumors down the stretch, one player who won't be moved is Buxton, as he's already noted he will not waive his no-trade clause because he loves calling Minnesota home. Who he will be playing with and what their record will ultimately be when he eventually returns to the field, however, remains to be seen, as the MLB trade market has started to heat up and will only continue to do so as the final deadline approaches.
