Twins’ Byron Buxton pays powerful tribute to cousin who fought for sickle cell awareness

Byron Buxton doesn’t often show much emotion on the field, so his upper-deck home run Friday night didn’t come with anything more than his usual truck-horn gesture, a tribute to his father, as he rounded second base.

But to the veteran outfielder, that blast had a lot more meaning than he let on.

While the Twins were in Kansas City, Buxton spent Wednesday and Thursday in his hometown of Baxley, Ga., surrounded by his extended family, which had gathered for the funeral and burial of Latasha Johnson, his cousin. Johnson, whose nickname “KooKoo Red Lipstick” was engraved on her casket, was a “fierce advocate for sickle cell awareness,” according to her obituary, and hosted an annual event in Georgia to honor survivors and victims of the hereditary disease.

Johnson, diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when she was 2, died of the illness April 2, one day after her 38th birthday. Buxton hit his first home run of the season that day.

So he was understandably emotional in the clubhouse after repeating the feat during Friday’s game.

“Yeah, that was for her. I haven’t hit a home run since” his cousin’s death, Buxton said. “That was great. It meant a lot. It meant a lot. She’s been on my mind, obviously.”

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It hasn’t been an easy start to the season for Buxton or his family, so “to be able to get back to being myself, it’s exciting,” said Buxton, who also stole his third base of the season Friday. “Being able to come back from [Georgia] and take right up again, it goes a long way” toward turning things around.

Five lefthanded batters populated the Tigers’ lineup Saturday, and the Twins’ lone lefthanded pitcher, Danny Coulombe, had pitched on three of the previous four days. So it was no surprise when the team executed a transaction shortly before Saturday’s game to add another lefty.

Kody Funderburk, who has appeared in 38 games over the past two seasons, was recalled from Class AAA St. Paul. To make room, the Twins designated righthander Scott Blewett for assignment.

Blewett had pitched twice for the Twins in the past five days, totaling 4 ⅔ innings with only one run allowed, no walks and five strikeouts.

Funderburk was called upon immediately in the Twins’ 4-0 loss, relieving starter Chris Paddack in the sixth inning. It didn’t start well — Kerry Carpenter lined a sinker into left field for a single, and Spencer Torkelson followed by blasting a slider 421 feet into the bullpens — but Funderburk got through two innings without allowing another run.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said adding another lefthander wasn’t an emergency situation, but Funderburk had been pitching well for the Saints.

“We’ve had a lot of periods of time here where we’ve had either no lefty or just one. But we have to go through a lot of late-inning situations with righties who have different toolboxes,” Baldelli said. “We put together a good bullpen that can and will hold leads and win games for us. Not just be participants, but guys who are weapons for us. We’ve got to get ourselves to that spot, where everyone is pulling through and getting outs and getting the job done.”

Ryan Jeffers was in the Twins’ original lineup Saturday but was scratched upon arriving at Target Field with a swollen right thumb, the aftereffect of getting hit on the thumbnail during Friday’s game. Jeffers remained in that game, but the thumb was bleeding for much of it.

“It’s not feeling great, and if it’s going to affect his throwing or swinging the bat, we want to make sure we get a good understanding of what we’re dealing with,” Baldelli said. But he added that Jeffers was available if needed and that he should be back in the lineup within a day or two.

A statue of Joe Mauer will be unveiled during a ceremony on Target Plaza, just outside the ballpark, at 11:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Mauer will be there, along with sculptor Bill Mack and several of Mauer’s former teammates and managers.