Astros 3, Twins 1
For the second day in a row, the pitching was fantastic between the Houston Astros and the Minnesota Twins. Carlos Correa broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a solo home run to center. Outside of a run scoring double by Nelson Cruz, the Twins struggled to put anything together in an excellent pitching performance by the Astros. Ryan Pressly pitched a clean ninth to nail down the save and give the Twins their 18th-straight postseason loss.
Another Low-Scoring Game
Once again, scoring was hard to come by. The Twins loaded the bases in the first with two outs, but Jose Urquidy got the Alex Kirilloff, making his MLB debut, to line out to center. The Astros got on the board in the fourth with a Kyle Tucker single against the shift which scored Michael Brantley. The Twins scored their only run on a Cruz double that scored Marwin Gonzalez in the fifth. Minnesota could have scored another run on the play, but Luis Arraez was thrown out at the plate by a great relay throw from Correa. Correa’s seventh inning home run proved to be the difference, but Tucker added some insurance with another RBI single in the ninth.
Astros Pitching Stifles Twins
Urquidy had a very good start, giving up just one run in 4 1/3 innings. The Mexico native gave up two of the Twins three hits all day, a single to Kirilloff in the fourth and a single to Gonzalez in the fifth. Houston brought in Brooks Raley in the fifth, who gave up the double to Cruz. Cristian Javier and Pressly combined for four hitless innings after the fifth. The frustration really set in for the Twins after the pivotal fifth inning. Multiple Minnesota hitters slammed their bats after missing pitches and flying out. Cruz was walked in the eighth, and lifted for a pinch runner, Byron Buxton. Buxton had not started the game because he was not 100% healthy, according to manager Rocco Baldelli. A batter later, Buxton was caught leaning and picked off to end the eighth.
Multiple batters from both teams had issues with home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez’s strike zone. The frustration culminated with Eddie Rosario‘s ejection for arguing balls and strikes in the sixth inning. The Twins left fielder thought he had ball four on a pitched that appeared to be up. The pitch made it 3-2, and Rosario ended up swinging and missing for strike three. After some words with Gonzalez, the umpire tossed him from the game.
The Astros will face either the Chicago White Sox or the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS beginning Monday, October 5.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
