MLB

Minnesota Twins at Houston Astros

· Major League Baseball
Minnesota Twins
32-26, 16-13 Away
Final
2 - 5
Houston Astros
26-33, 15-16 Home

Valdez throws 7 strong innings, Alvarez homers twice in Astros' 5-2 victory over Twins

Valdez (4-3) didn’t allow a hit until a single to start the seventh. He yielded the two hits and a run with four strikeouts in seven innings.

“I felt good from the beginning with my pitches,” Valdez said in Spanish through a translator. “They were doing what I wanted them to do and I was able to throw them for strikes in the location where I wanted them.”

Alvarez hit a two-run home run off Joe Ryan (4-4) in the first and his solo shot off the starter in the fifth inning made it 5-0. It’s the third multi-homer game of the season for Alvarez and 18th of his career.

“I felt like the Yordan that people are accustomed to,” Alvarez said in Spanish through a translator.

Struggling first baseman José Abreu hit his first home run and second extra-base hit of the season in the second inning. Kyle Tucker added a homer in the third to give him 19 this season, which ranks second in the majors behind Aaron Judge’s 20.

Houston led 5-2 with one out in the ninth when Jake Meyers made a leaping catch at wall in center field to rob Byron Buxton of a homer. Closer Josh Hader raised both arms high in the air after the catch and Buxton, a fellow center fielder, tipped his helmet to Meyers.

Hader then struck out Willi Castro to get his eighth save.

Valdez sailed through the first six innings. He walked Manuel Margot to start the fourth and plunked Kyle Farmer to open the sixth but has faced the minimum thanks to double plays in both innings.

Valdez got some help from his defense for the first out of the third. Tucker made a leaping catch just before crashing into the right field wall on a fly ball hit by Farmer.

The Twins got their first hit when Margot singled on a grounder to center field to start the seventh. Margot moved to second on a wild pitch with one out before scoring on a two-out single by Jose Miranda that cut the lead to 5-1.

An RBI single by Carlos Correa got the Twins within 5-2 with two outs in the eighth.

“When you’re held down like that through six, it does take a lot to come back and win... (but) we kept playing hard," Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Tucker walked in the first before the first homer by Alvarez made it 2-0.

There were two outs in the second when Abreu’s shot pushed the lead to 3-0. Abreu, who is batting .119, was playing his fourth game in the majors after spending almost a month in the minors to work on his swing after a terrible start to the season.

“I think it’s very important to understand where I am and where I need to be at,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “The results haven’t been there these first 3-4 games. But trust me, I feel confident that I can get to the spot where I can help this team, help this organization win games.”

Tucker’s home run to right center came with one out in the third to make it 4-0. There were two outs in the fifth when Alvarez connected again.

Ryan yielded eight hits, including four homers and five runs — all season highs — in five innings.

UP NEXT

Minnesota RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (2-0, 2.70 ERA), who is from suburban Houston, was set to face RHP Hunter Brown (1-5, 6.39) when the series concludes Sunday.

How can I watch Minnesota Twins vs. Houston Astros?
  • TV Channel: Twins at Astros 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
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Matchup Prediction

Astros: 53.2%
Twins: 46.8%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Castro struck out looking.
9th Inning Buxton flied out to center.
9th Inning Miranda flied out to left.
9th Inning Hader relieved B. Abreu
8th Inning Dubón grounded out to pitcher.
8th Inning Meyers grounded out to shortstop.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 0
9 Ground Balls 10
6 Strikeouts 5
2 Runs Batted In 5
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
4 Hits 10
0 Stolen Bases 0
4 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
2 Runs 5
3 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
28 At Bats 31
0 Home Runs 4
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
11 Runners Left On Base 10
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 1
13 Fly Balls 16
0 Caught Stealing 2
119 Pitches 139
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 0
1 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
4 Total Bases 23
33 Plate Appearances 34
0.0 Projected Home Runs 648.0
0 Extra Base Hits 5
0.2 Runs Created 7.0
.143 Batting Average .323
1.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.143 Slugging Percentage .742
.143 Secondary Average .452
.273 On Base Percentage .382
.416 OBP Pct + SLG Pct 1.124
0.7 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.6
0.2 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 7.9
12.0 Batter Rating 44.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 7.8
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.61 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.09
.000 Isolated Power .419
0.67 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.60
.121 Walks Per Plate Appearance .088
.000 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .129
4.0 Runs Produced 10.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.3 Patience Ratio 0.8
0.2 Balls In Play Average 0.3
64.8 MLB Rating 95.8
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Minute Maid Park

Location: Houston, Texas
Attendance: 33,855 | Capacity:

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6
Full Standings