HOUSTON — The Minnesota Twins are hitting enough that Byron Buxton feels as if he doesn’t need to be Superman and play through an injury.Believing the Twins offense is well-equipped enough to win without him in the lineup, the two-time All-Star missed a second straight game Tuesday night to rest a right hip impingement. Though the Twins lost to the Houston Astros 6-4 at Daikin Park, the offense gave the club a chance to win for the fourth time in five games after grabbing a three-run lead in the first inning.Still, an uncharacteristically bad inning from Joe Ryan did in the Twins as the All-Star pitcher surrendered a six-spot in the fourth, including yielding a grand slam to Yordan Alvarez.“It was one of those times where I’m not trying to be a hero,” Buxton said before the game. “It makes it easier in here when all of us are on the same page, and everybody in here believes in each other. It’s easy to just go out and play and pick each other up.”Why the union should reject MLB's latest offerKeith LawBuxton requested to undergo an MRI on Monday.He wanted clarity after a hip injury that resulted in five missed games in May, and cost him playing time in previous seasons, began to flare up over the weekend.When the MRI showed the soreness was the result of an impingement rather than inflammation, a malady that cost him 28 games late in the 2024 season, the Twins determined they would evaluate Buxton on a day-to-day basis.Whereas other players might be placed on the 10-day injured list, the Twins believe Buxton is too valuable to be without, even if he needs five games off as he did in May. Unlike that earlier instance, the Twins have days off Thursday and Monday, meaning the team could manage Buxton’s workload.Unlike earlier in the season, the Twins, who lead the American League in runs scored, are in a much better spot to withstand missed time by their center fielder.The team’s offensive showing in June would give any player, let alone Buxton, confidence in the rest of the group’s capabilities. In 27 games, the team batted .271/.331/.467 and averaged 5.41 runs per contest.Buxton, who fell one homer behind Alvarez for the AL lead Tuesday, paced the group with a .926 OPS and eight homers in June. At least six other Twins hitters produced an OPS above .800 in June, including Victor Caratini (1.060 OPS), Trevor Larnach (.918), Ryan Kreidler (.892), Josh Bell (.890), Royce Lewis (.842) and Kody Clemens (.818).A night after three home runs paved the way for a 5-4 victory in the series opener, the Twins’ offense started quickly Tuesday. Caratini was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first inning, and Kreidler followed with a two-out, two-run single.