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Twins' Buxton blows away Jays in 10th-inning win

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MINNEAPOLIS - When Twins budding star Byron Buxton reached the bag after a leadoff single in the second inning, Jays first baseman Justin Smoak had a word or two for the Twins centre-fielder.

“I told him you were waiting for us to come back here,” Smoak said. “He’s a great player.”

Indeed Buxton would appear to like facing the Jays, as he showed with a walk-off homer in the 10th inning to give the Twins a 3-2 win Thursday night at Target Field and continue their push for the second wildcard spot in the American League.

Buxton’s blast off of Jays reliever Luis Santos erased Smoak’s tying homer in the top of the ninth and gave the Twins their third consecutive win.

And it also continued his dominant play against the Jays. When the Twins visited the Rogers Centre in August, Buxton had three homers in a 7-2 win, part of 10 in his round-trippers in the past 31 games.

The 23-year-old is a big reason the Twins now have a two-and-a-half game lead over the Angels for the second wildcard spot. And the Jays are more aware than most of the danger he brings to the plate.

“We haven’t been able to keep him in the park,” Jays manager John Gibbons said of the 23-year-old. “He’s going to be a great, great player.”

Thanks to Smoak, the Jays had a shot of playing spoiler when he blasted his 38th of the season over the right field wall to tie it at 2-2 in the top of the ninth. Once again, a lack of run production conspired against the Jays, however as they dropped their 11th in the past 15 on the road.

BLISTER TROUBLE

The solid run of Jays starter Brett Anderson was grounded due to an all-too-familiar cause.

After getting the first out in the fifth, the big lefty walked the next three batters he faced (he had entered the game on a streak of 17 plus without allowing a base on balls) and was clearly in trouble. When he allowed a two RBI single to Jorge Polanco his night was done, thanks in large part to a blister on Anderson’s index finger.

“It was a freak thing,” Anderson said. “I felt fine going into the fifth and got the first out. Then I lost the feel for the strike zone and the feel for the ball and the blister popped up, which was unfortunate.

“It’s extremely frustrating. It was the best I had felt in a long time.”

Anderson allowed the two runs on five hits through 4.1 innings. In his four starts with the Jays since being called up on Aug. 29, he has not allowed more than three runs in a game.

QUICK HITS

Smoak’s homer was his 11th in the ninth inning or later to set a single-season Jays record. Tony Batista had 10 in 2000 … The Jays also set a dubious franchise record on Thursday, allowing their sixth walk off homer of the season … It was the second night in a row that the Twins gave up a late lead before winning it with a walk off homer in the 10th - they did the same to the San Diego Padres here on Wednesday … The Twins are 3-1 overall against the Jays this season. They are also eight games over .500 (77-69) a season high.

rlongley@postmedia.com

Twitter: @longleysunsport

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