Twins Champions 'Boom' Batting: Stars Thrive as Team Revives '90s Power!

Most Minnesota fans were likely rooting for Byron Buxton and Team USA in Tuesday night’s World Baseball Classic championship game against Venezuela. With a left-hander on the mound for Venezuela, USA’s manager Mark DeRosa started Buxton in center field over Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. It was not a great WBC for Buxton, as he went hitless the entire tournament in seven at-bats.

Striking out in four of these, he was really only effective as a defensive replacement late in games. This, combined with Crow-Armstrong’s two-home run game against Italy, led to Buxton spending quite a bit of time on the bench. That said, the Twins star still got his opportunity in this championship game and finished 0-for-1 with a strikeout.

Crow-Armstrong ended up pinch hitting once Venezuela went to the bullpen, and he also finished hitless. While many Twins fans would have liked to see Buxton win the WBC, there was some good news for another Twins player. Pablo López, the Venezuelan starting pitcher for the Twins, was unable to participate in this tournament due to season-ending elbow surgery.

That said, he did spend some time around the Venezuelan club and was able to watch his country win the WBC on Tuesday night. This was some much-needed good news for López amid what has been a difficult stretch for him. Things didn't go according to plan for Pablo López after this, but he just won the World Baseball Classic with his childhood hero Johan Santana.