Series Recap: Astros Lose Series to Twins, fall to 4-6

The Astros traveled to Minnesota for their first series away from home, needing a series win after a sloppy series loss to the Detroit Tigers. Houston continued to struggle with pitching, and it has affected them early on. Here is the series recap:

Game 1, Twins defeat Astros 3-2

The Twins came into this series with a 5-2 record, playing great baseball and hoping to continue that against the struggling Astros. Houston got on the board early on an RBI single from Alex Bregman that brought Dubon home. Twins SP Sonny Gray was dealing the entire game, striking out 13 batters and only giving up 4 hits and 1 ER.

Houston went to the bullpen after Urquidy threw 95 pitches, giving up 7 hits, 1 run, and striking out 6. Minnesota got on the board due to a wild pitch from Bryan Abreu that tied this game up in the bottom of the 6th inning.

This ballgame stayed tied after 9 innings which means free baseball for everyone. The Astros took advantage of the extra baserunner rule and took a 2-1 lead from a Dubon base hit that brought David Hensley home. Being on the road, you at least want to score 2 runs with the rule because it seems like one run just isn't enough going into the bottom half of the inning. That's exactly what happened as the Twins tied the game up on a Jose Miranda base hit and then a walk off base hit from Kyle Farmer to win the game 3-2.

Player of the game - SP Sonny Gray

Game 2, Twins defeat Astros 9-6

With Houston striking out 16 times at the plate in the first game of the series, you would think the plate approach from the entire team would be different for game two. That wasn't the case as they struck out 17 times at the plate instead, 10 of those strikeouts coming from Twins SP Joe Ryan.

Minnesota took an early 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning from a Kyle Farmer 3-run HR and a Trevor Larnach base hit. The tables were turned in seconds once Yordan Alvarez came up to the plate with the bases loaded in the 3rd inning, hitting a grand slam to tie this game up fast.

Then in the 6th inning, former Astro Christian Vazquez helped his team take the lead with an RBI base hit that brought Kyle Farmer home. Up to plate again in the 8th inning, Vazquez extended the lead to 6-4 with another RBI base hit bringing Nick Gordon home. Things got even uglier for Houston as Byron Buxton hit a 3-run HR to make it a 9-4 game heading into the top of the 9th inning.

Player of the game - 2B Kyle Farmer

Game 3, Astros defeat Twins 5-1

After an ugly two games in this series for the Astros, they had to win this game to avoid a sweep before they traveled to Pittsburgh. Chas McCormick started the party for Houston with a 2-run HR to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in the third inning. SP Hunter Brown was looking solid on the mound, a way better start than his last against the Tigers last week. Brown had a final line of 7 IP, 7 strikeouts, 2 hits, 2 walks, and 0 ER.

The Twins got on the board in the fourth inning from a Donovan Solano RBI double that brought Byron Buxton home. The run didn't affect Brown because Buxton made it on base due to a throwing error from Alex Bregman. That would be the only run scored from the Twins, McCormick brought in another two runs with a base hit in the fifth inning giving Houston a 4-1 lead. Later in the 8th inning, Jeremy Pena hit an RBI double that brought Alvarez home securing Houston's first road victory.

Player of the game - OF Chas McCormick