A pair of American League teams finish up their weekend series on the diamond in the Twin Cities. The Houston Astros are on the road as they make the trip to face the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game series Sunday afternoon. In the opening game of the series Friday afternoon, the Twins earned a 3-2 walk-off win in 10 innings to draw first blood in the series. This article was published prior to the conclusion of Saturday’s middle game of the series, which saw Luis Garcia take the mound for Houston against the Twins’ Joe Ryan at Target Field. Who emerges victorious in this contest? We take a look at the game and give you our take.
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Houston’s bats failed to deliver in the opening game of the series against the Twins as they fell in extra innings Friday afternoon. The Astros dropped to 3-5 on the season and stood tied for third in the AL West, 1.5 games behind the Rangers and Angels for the top spot. Against Minnesota, Houston finished with only five hits in the game with Mauricio Dubon (run, RBI) the lone player with two. Alex Bregman drove in the other run for the Astros, who fanned 16 times as a team while failing to draw a walk. Jose Urquidy didn’t factor in the decision as he threw 5.1 innings, allowing one run on seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Ryne Stanek (1-1) blew the save and took the loss as he allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits with two walks and one strikeout in one-third of an inning of relief.
Hunter Brown, who was effective down the stretch as a rookie last season, takes the ball for his second start of the season for the Astros here. He has no record with a 7.71 ERA, a 1.929 WHIP, three walks and five strikeouts on the year. Brown didn’t factor in the decision in his season debut, which came against the Tigers at home Monday night. He threw 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts in a game the Astros eventually dropped 7-6 in 11 innings. In his ninth career major league appearance and fourth start, Brown pitches against the Twins for the first time in this contest. As a result, this marks his first career outing at Target Field.