Mick Abel overpowers Phillies, Byron Buxton hits 35th homer as Twins win penultimate game 5-0

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Sep 27, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA – The first time Mick Abel pitched at Citizens Bank Park this season, on May 18 for his major league debut, he pitched six scoreless innings, struck out nine batters and he outdueled National League Cy Young Award favorite Paul Skenes.

Back again four months later, Abel decided it was time for an encore.

No, he didn’t pitch against Skenes, but the rest of it sounded familiar. Abel quieted a potent Phillies lineup with six shut out innings, permitting three hits and one walk, and he matched his season high with nine strikeouts in a 5-0 victory against his former team Saturday.

Byron Buxton smacked his 35th home run of the season — he’s hit four in the last four days — to jumpstart the Minnesota Twins offense to their fourth victory over their past six games.

The Phillies remain quite happy with their end of the trade, acquiring closer Jhoan Duran, but the Twins are hopeful Abel will be a regular part of their rotation next year. It wasn’t hard to imagine Abel filling a bigger role with the way he pitched in his last start of the season.

Abel, 24, admitted he was “already feeling the emotions of being here” when the Twins played Friday. He was amped up to face his former organization, grateful for the support he received after he was taken in the first round of the 2020 MLB amateur draft.

He struck out nine batters and didn’t throw more than 16 pitches in any inning. He had four separate putaway pitches: Four-seam fastball (four strikeouts), curveball (three), changeup (one) and slider (one). Harrison Bader and Bryce Harper both struck out twice against him.

“The stuff and the way the ball comes out of his hand, I think that’s clearly the first thing you notice, and the thing that separates him from most pitchers,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Abel, who compiled six strikeouts against his first eight batters, looked in complete control. He threw a first-pitch strike to 15 of his 21 batters, and he never let in. There were two runners on base in the fourth inning after Harper drew a walk and Brandon Marsh hit a two-out single, but he induced a foul out against J.T. Realmuto.

With lefty Kody Funderburk warming in the bullpen, Baldelli opted to let Abel face the top of the Phillies lineup for a third time in the sixth inning. Abel induced two groundouts before striking out Harper on three pitches, Harper flailing at a low curveball on the final pitch. It was pure domination.

Twins starting pitchers have given up six earned runs in their past seven games.

Fellow starting pitcher Joe Ryan said he believes “the trajectory of the organization is positive.” He credited the coaching staff for implementing more aggressive baserunning, putting more pressure on other teams, and he’s been impressed with the young pitchers.

“There have been a couple of rocky outings here and there, but for the most part, guys like Taj [Bradley] and Mick, those guys look really good,” Ryan said Friday. “It’s more to come in that area and they know what stuff to work on in the offseason. I think the team’s going to be in a really good spot going forward. Hopefully we’ll make a couple of other moves and see where that goes.”

Abel posted an 8.36 ERA in 14 innings with the Twins, but that is mostly inflated from his first two horrendous outings. He gave up four hits and two runs over his final 10 innings.

“It’s the kind of arm that you want to just give to your pitching group, give him a little time to work with them and see what they can do,” Baldelli said, “because that’s the kind of guy that can end up pitching not just in a major league rotation but in a prominent spot.”

Buxton drilled a leadoff homer on lefthander Ranger Suárez’s sixth pitch, a cutter that sat over the heart of the plate. It was Buxton’s third leadoff homer within the past week, and his 11th this season, which matches Jacque Jones’ team record set in 2002.

Kody Clemens singled and scored in the third inning, and James Outman ended a 0 for 21 hitless streak with a 436-foot homer to center field. Suárez exited after only 4 1/3 innings when Ryan Jeffers lined a comebacker to his left thigh, a ball that had a 106-mph exit velocity.

In the seventh inning, Ryan Fitzgerald drilled a solo homer off reliever Max Lazar and one of the fans in the crowd of 40,506 threw the ball back onto the field.

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