Leaving Houston with two wins in three games against the Astros didn’t look all that likely when the Twins posted the starting lineup on Wednesday, but a lineup loaded with reserves lit up the scoreboard and Minnesota beat the Astros 8-2.
Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis all had the night off, setting the stage for Donovan Solano, Willi Castro, Ryan Jeffers and Michael A. Taylor to lead the offense while Louie Varland held the Astros in check over seven shutout innings.
Varland walked one and struck out five while allowing just four hits, lowing his ERA this season to 3.51. Jorge Lopez replaced him to start the eighth and gave up back-to-back homers before hitting and walking the next two batters he faced. His night was over.
With two on and nobody out, Brock Stewart took the mound and struck out the next three batters to get the Twins out of the jam.
Lopez finished May with a 9.00 ERA in 11 innings. The micro view is worse as he has a 30.86 ERA in his last five appearances, having allowed eight runs on nine hits – including four homers – and two walks in just 2.1 innings.
Solano fueled the offense with a two-run single in the third and a two-run double in the sixth. He finished 2-for-4 with four RBI. Jeffers also had two hits including a two-run double, while Castro went 2-for-3, scored three runs and stole his 10th base of the season. Taylor had an RBI double in the seventh.
The win gets the Twins to 29-27 overall as they head back to Minneapolis for a four game series against Cleveland starting Thursday night. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m.
