Ryan Jeffers, Byron Buxton homer as Twins crush Blue Jays, 7-1

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Apr 30, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins played some of their best baseball against the Toronto Blue Jays in April, and maybe it’s bringing out the worst in the Blue Jays.

Ryan Jeffers and Byron Buxton both homered, and Bailey Ober pitched well over six innings, but the Twins also benefitted from a comedy of errors in the eighth inning during their 7-1 victory Thursday, April 30, at Target Field.

The Twins (14-18) have won three of their four games against Toronto (14-17), the defending American League pennant winners who came within a play of winning a World Series.

After Buxton hit a leadoff single in the eighth inning, with the Twins trying to add to a three-run lead, the Blue Jays fell apart.

Jeffers hit an infield popup to the left of the mound, and it dropped when none of Toronto’s infielders took charge and camped under the ball. There was still a force out available at second base, but third baseman Kazuma Okamoto’s throw skipped past second baseman Ernie Clement into shallow right field.

With runners on the corners, Josh Bell lined a change-up from Blue Jays lefty Mason Fluharty to the left-field wall for an RBI single. Bell rounded first base too far, and he was stuck in no-man’s land. But Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez whipped a throw that bounced past second base, enabling Jeffers to jog to the plate for an extra run.

The Twins added another run on a sacrifice fly after Fluharty walked the next two batters, removing any pressure for a beleaguered Twins bullpen.

Ober continued his string of strong starts, giving up four hits and one run in six innings. He’s lowered his ERA to 3.55 through seven starts.

Ober didn’t throw any pitches above 90 mph, and only three pitches that reached 89 mph, but he continues to pitch effectively in a baseball era that is dominated by velocity.

He gave up a solo homer to Daulton Varsho in the fourth inning — three of Varsho’s four homers this year came against the Twins — but there were no other Blue Jays that touched third base. Ober, who struck out two and walked two, has given up only 10 hits over his past 18 1/3 innings.

Jeffers gave the Twins a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning after Trevor Larnach drew a leadoff walk against Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. Jeffers, in an eight-pitch at-bat, crushed a full-count 93-mph fastball that sat over the heart of the plate for a two-run homer, his fourth home run of the season.

Buxton opened the sixth inning with a solo home run, pulling an inside fastball over the left-field wall. After Buxton went through his first 14 games without a homer, following limited playing time in the World Baseball Classic, he’s bashed eight homers over his past 15 games.

His eight homers are tied for the seventh-most in the AL, though it has led to only 11 RBIs because he remains hitless in 19 at-bats with a runner in scoring position this season.

The Twins added another run in the sixth inning after Larnach followed Buxton with another walk. Austin Martin, whose 18-game on-base streak ended Wednesday, poked an RBI single over the head of Clement.

Martin’s hit knocked Gausman out of the game after the Blue Jays right-hander permitted four runs on four hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings.

Gausman, a two-time All-Star, entered Thursday with a 5.18 ERA in eight career starts at Target Field.