The Twins' previous center fielder was AL Player of the Month in April. Their current center fielder is making a case for the May award.
OK, even Rob Refsnyder probably wouldn't compare himself to Byron Buxton, in part because until last week, he had never played the position during his six years in the big leagues. That only makes the growing legend of this super sub all the more unlikely.
Refsnyder doubled twice, crushed a home run, drove in two runs, scrambled home on a wild pitch and executed an all-out Buxton-style diving catch on Tuesday, leading the Twins to their fifth win in six games, 7-4 over the outgunned Baltimore Orioles.
The victory, combined with Detroit's 4-1 loss to Cleveland, pulled Minnesota out of last place in the AL Central for the first time in 10 days. It also clinched back-to-back series wins for the first time since the first two series of the 2021 season.
Yes, they are merely beating the Orioles, losers eight straight games and 15 of their last 17, new owners of the worst record in the major leagues, a team that hasn't beaten the Twins since March 2018, 14 straight losses ago. But the Twins, desperate to rejoin the AL Central race that is perilously close to out of reach, make no apologies for taking advantage.
"These are teams that we need match up well against, and we need to perform these next two weeks," Garver said of a 13-game stretch featuring nothing but Orioles and Royals in the opposite dugouts. "And we have the ability to do that."
Looked like it on Tuesday. Alex Kirilloff doubled twice, Mitch Garver did as well, and Jorge Polanco, determined to play on his naggingly sore right ankle, homered in his first at-bat since last Thursday.
But it was Refsnyder, the career utility player who has rescued the Twins from an injury-induced emergency, taking part in the Twins' most important rallies.
His second-inning double off Orioles starter Dean Kremer hit about 12 feet up the wall in right-center field and drove home the game-tying run. A pair of walks moved him to third base, and he hustled home with the go-ahead run when a Kremer curveball sailed over catcher Pedro Severino's head.
In the fourth inning, Refsnyder, who has played for five major league teams since being drafted out of Arizona in 2012, led off with a double into the right-field corner. He eventually scored on Josh Donaldson's sacrifice fly. And in the eighth inning, Refsnyder completed his big night by lining a changeup from Keegan Akin into the overhand in right field, his second home run of the season.
Refsnyder, now batting .438 with seven RBI in his first 11 games as a Twin, also ended the sixth inning by racing 50 feet toward the infield and diving to catch Cedric Mullins' pop fly just before it hit the grass.
The Twins scored six or more runs for the fifth time in six games, which helped calm their worries about the pitching of Jose Berrios, who retired the Orioles in order only once. Berrios allowed three runs on seven hits, but still earned his fifth victory, most on the Twins.
