Backed up against the wall, there’s no where else go as the Minnesota Twins lost 9-1 to the Houston Astros Tuesday and now face a must-win in Game 4 Wednesday.
Minnesota’s bats never came alive against Cristian Javier in Game 3, managing just three hits and a woeful 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Houston, meanwhile, jumped out to a 4-0 lead off Sonny Gray in the first inning.
Houston opened up early against Gray in Game 3, with Altuve starting the game with a single and then Yordan Alvarez reached second after his hard grounder went into the right field corner after an error by Alex Kirilloff. Kyle Tucker then delivered an RBI single, followed by Jose Abreu unloading on a sweeper down the heart of the plate for a homer to put the Astros up 4-0.
José Abreu got all of this one! 😯
The @Astros are up 4-0 in the 1st inning. #Postseason pic.twitter.com/8YWkhEjaoD
— MLB (@MLB) October 10, 2023
Minnesota threatened in the bottom of the first with runners at second and third with one out, but Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa each struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Twins threatened again in the third after starting the inning with Ryan Jeffers being hit by a pitch and Eddy Julien drawing a walk, but Jorge Polanco struck out, Max Kepler flied out and Lewis lined out to end the inning.
Minnesota is 5 for 37 with runners in scoring position through five playoff games.
Alex Bregman gave the Astros a 5-0 lead with a solo homer that snuck over the left field wall to start the fifth inning. Gray then gave up a double to Alvarez and a walk to Tucker before the Twins went to the bullpen. Emilio Pagan got the Twins out of that jam, leaving Gray with a final line of five runs allowed (four earned) on eight hits and a walk in just four innings.
Bregman belts it out! #Postseason pic.twitter.com/Jf608vyzZN
— MLB (@MLB) October 10, 2023
In the fifth, the Twins started with a walk by Willi Castro and then Julien and Polanco drew back-to-back one-out walks to load the bases, but Kepler struck out looking on three pitches and Lewis struck out swinging to leave the bases full.
Houston scored another run in the sixth and then Alvarez and Abreu homered in the ninth off Bailey Ober to put the game way out of reach. Alvarez has homered in each game this series and is a combined 6 for 12 with four homers, two doubles and six RBI.
Abreu’s first homer was estimated at 442 feet and his second blast went 440 feet.
Minnesota finally got on the board with a run-scoring single from Castro in the sixth, but the threat was halted when Jeremy Pena dove to his left to snag a would-be RBI single off the bat of Jeffers and then flipped to Altuve who fired to Abreu for a 6-4-3, inning-ending double play.
Jeremy Peña ends the 6th inning by starting a nifty double play. 😤 #Postseason pic.twitter.com/SHTauww4oB
— MLB (@MLB) October 10, 2023
Game 4 is scheduled to start at 1:07 p.m. but will be moved to 6:07 p.m. if the Rangers sweep the Orioles later Tuesday night.
