Astros Lose Second Straight to Twins

Another game and another loss in the books for the Astros. Tonight’s game only took the standard nine innings as the Astros lost 6-4 to the Twins.

Jose Altuve (Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports)

If you are looking to find the silver lining in tonight’s game, Jose Altuve did return after missing two games with a leg injury. Altuve went 1-5 with three strikeouts, but he did drive in the first run of the game for the Astros with a double scoring Jonathan Villar.

Even though he is only batting .200 on the season, Villar has shown the ability to make things happen on the base paths. Prior to Altuve’s double he did steal his sixth base on the season. Once again tonight, the shortstop also made some nice plays defensively.

Despite the fact that the boxscore says Erik Bedard registered a quality start, it was not easy for the southpaw. He gave his early advantage back right away as Brian Dozier led off the game with a triple for the Twins. A Joe Mauer groundout then tied the score.

Minnesota followed that up with two more runs in the 2nd in the inning off Bedard. Just because the lefty held the Twins scoreless for the next four innings, it did not mean that they were clean innings. In each of the first five innings, Minnesota got the lead off man on base off Bedard. The one bright spot, is that he did strike out six Twins and he was able to limit the damage to just six hits, two walks, and three runs.

Thanks to Houston’s three run third inning, Bedard actually left the game with a 4-3 lead. Brett Wallace continued his success with his eighth home run of the season. Robbie Grossman and L.J. Hoes also added an RBI single each in the third inning which completed the Astros’ scoring for the night.

After the 13 inning game last night taxed the bullpen, Bo Porter went to Lucas Harrell for the seventh inning. Harrell did not provide much relief as the Twins scored three runs off him in the 7th inning.

A Dozier double tied the game for the Twins and Ryan Doumit‘s RBI single put them ahead for good. Harrell then walked Oswaldo Arcia with the bases loaded to give Minnesota an insurance run. Ultimately it was not needed as the Astros were not able to muster a base runner in either the 8th or 9th innings.