Minnesota Twins head on a road trip that's big on mileage and rife with complications

Brock Stewart didn't pitch Sunday, but it was a rough day anyway.

"I had to tell my kids I won't see them for 12 days, and they got really sad," said the Twins righthander and father of two toddlers. "When I left, my [3-year-old] son, Jett, was standing in the door, sobbing. It was so hard."

Traveling to 81 road games a year takes its toll, no doubt. But the trip the Twins embarked on following Sunday's 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Royals is a challenge in a lot of different and unique ways.

For one thing, it's a three-city, 10-game trip with an off day three games in, the Twins' longest span away from home since 2019. Then there's the distance — nearly 7,000 air miles to travel round trip, including a five-hour cross-country flight Wednesday night from Tampa, Fla., to Seattle. That's the second-longest flight the Twins have embarked upon in the past three decades, after their 2005 flight from their Fort Myers, Fla., spring training camp to Seattle for Opening Day.

And the trip will both start and end in minor league parks, each of which have received mixed reviews as big-league venues: Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, the temporary home of the Rays, and Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif., the home for at least the next three seasons of the Las Vegas-or-bust Athletics.

"I think it's going to be fine. They've kind of spruced up some of these places in some ways," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said hopefully. "I think we'll have every amenity that we need."

The changes were made necessary by the destruction of the roof over Tropicana Field when Hurricane Milton hit last October and the inability of the A's and city of Oakland to agree to a new stadium deal in the wake of the team's desire to move to Las Vegas. And when the Rays decided to play at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees' 10,046-seat spring-training home, MLB asked the Twins and Angels to adjust their schedules in order to minimize the possibility of multiple rainouts once Florida's rainy summer season arrives.

The Twins were supposed to be home this week against the Rays, then visit St. Petersburg on July 4-6. Instead, those series were swapped.

The decision to play in Tampa instead of St. Petersburg came after the Twins had signed a contract with their usual hotel near Tropicana Field, so the Twins will have to bus across the bay each day to get to the ballpark. It's about 20 miles away, but midday traffic on the Interstate 275 bridge to Tampa can make the drive a lengthy and tedious one, so the hotel has arranged for a police escort for the Twins' buses to make sure they arrive on time.

There's nothing that can be done to speed up the long flights, however.

"I'm going to rest. That's what everyone's going to do. I might play a little [online] chess," Baldelli said. "The players, they play cards and talk and sleep, that's about it. That's literally it. And they love it."

The length of the trip won't necessitate many changes, Baldelli said, and he doesn't believe the players will be exhausted by the end.

"It's as much mental as it is physical. Baseball used to have 10-day road trips pretty regularly," Baldelli said. "There won't be a ton that changes. We'll pick a day, maybe two, to have a shorter day at the field so we're not there from basically morning to night every day of the trip. So we have a couple days picked out for that."

Buxton 'getting closer'

The flight to Tampa on Sunday night included an especially notable passenger: Byron Buxton, still on the concussion list. The center fielder ran in the outfield before Sunday's game and did some hitting in the batting cages.

Is this a sign that he will play against the Rays?

"He's getting closer. We're still treating it day-by-day," Baldelli said. "But he's ready to get back and play. We need all the doctors to put all the check marks down and make sure he's ready."

Jeffers contributes two ways

Ryan Jeffers had a first-inning double and scored the Twins' only run Sunday. He also had a good day defensively.

In the fourth inning, Jeffers made a snap throw to first base during Nick Loftin's at-bat and wound up throwing out Drew Waters.

"I don't know what Waters was doing, if he slipped or something," Jeffers said. "But it's good to audible and go there."

In the ninth, Waters reached base again with his third hit of the day, an infield single. The Royals immediately sent pinch-runner Dairon Blanco to replace Waters.

Moments later, Blanco headed for second base, and Jeffers threw him out, his 10th would-be base-stealer caught this season.

"As soon as they pinch-ran, I told Loftin [at the plate] — I was like, 'All right, here we go, mano a mano. Let's see who's got it,' " Jeffers said. "He had a bad jump. That's the only reason I got him. But it's a good throw."

Saints fall to Norfolk

The St. Paul Saints lost 10-4 to Norfolk on Sunday at CHS Field. All of the Saints' runs came on Patrick Winkel's grand slam in the second inning. Twins outfielder Matt Wallner, on a rehab assignment, went 0-for-3 with a walk and did not travel to Tampa.