Series number 18 sees the Twins visit Houston.
The Minnesota Twins visit the Houston Astros for a three-game series starting this afternoon.
Today at 3:10 PM CT, the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros will play the first game of a three-game series. This is the second and final time the two will face off this season. Minnesota won two-of-three against the Astros from April 7 through 9. The Astros did take the finale, 5-1.
Chas McCormick, Jeremy Peña, Mauricio Dubón & Yainer Diaz all collected multiple hits in Houston’s win, with one of McCormick’s hits a home run. Hunter Brown earned his first win of the season, striking out seven over seven innings. He allowed an unearned run on two hits and two walks.
Houston comes into today’s matchup as winners of 14 of their last 17 contests. They just completed a three-game sweep in Oakland against the Athletics, punctuated by a 10-1 decision in yesterday’s finale.
Seven Astros went deep in the 10-1 victory for Houston, including a pair by Yordan Alvarez and Jose Abreu’s first jack of the campaign. Jake Meyers, Chase McCormick, Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve also collected home runs in the win. Cristian Javier earned his sixth win of the season, striking out three over five innings. He allowed one run on four hits and three walks.
The Twins have lost eight of their last 12, and just completed a 2-4 homestand by winning one-of-three against both the San Francisco Giants and the Toronto Blue Jays. In the final game of the homestand, they lost to Jays, 3-0 while only managing five singles. Bailey Ober took the loss despite pitching pretty well, striking out seven and allowing two runs on five hits and a walk.
All-Time Head-to-Head
Houston is 43-37 in all-time direct regular-season competition with Minnesota. Houston swept their only postseason matchup, 2-0 in the 2020 American League Wild Card Series.
Starting pitching and gametime
Today at 3:10 PM CT: Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.82) vs. JP France (1-1, 3.43)
Tuesday at 7:10 PM CT: Joe Ryan (7-1, 2.21) vs. Brandon Bielak (1-2, 3.55)
Wednesday at 7:10 PM CT: Louie Garland (2-1, 4.24) vs. Hunter Brown (5-1, 3.12)
Probable Starting Lineups (according to lineups.com)
Astros
2B Jose Altuve
3B Alex Bregman
LF Yordan Alvarez
RF Kyle Tucker
1B Jose Abreu
SS Jeremy Peña
DH Corey Julks
CF Jake Meyers
C Martin Maldonado
Twins
RF Joe Gallo
SS Carlos Correa
DH Byron Buxton
1B Alex Kirilloff
3B Kyle Farmer
2B Edouard Julien
LF WIlli Castro
C Cristian Vazquez
CF Michael A Taylor