The Twins gave up seven runs on two homers in late innings in an 8-5 loss to the Astros in Houston Sunday afternoon. The loss spoiled starting pitcher Tyler Duffey’s homecoming.
Duffey grew up in Houston and was making his first start in front of the hometown crowd, and he pitched scoreless ball into the seventh inning.
The Twins were leading 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh and Houston had two runners on base, so manager Paul Molitor called on reliever Trevor May to finish the inning for Duffey, according to the Star Tribune.
May in.
Nice hand for Duffey from local rooting section behind 3B dugout.
One homemade sign read, "We (Heart) Duff."
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) September 6, 2015
That didn’t turn out so well, though. May walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. Then Jose Altuve brought in a run on an infield hit.
Then Jed Lowrie, who homered for Houston Saturday night, launched a grand slam into the right field stands, and all of a sudden the Astros were ahead 5-2.
Trevor May after failing to retire any of 4 batters he faced: "In short, I blew it." #MNTwins
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) September 6, 2015
Casey Fien came on and finally ended the inning for the Twins.
Minnesota got one run back in the eighth on a solo homer by Aaron Hicks and two more in the ninth. But Houston stayed on top with a three-run shot by Jake Marisnick off Neal Cotts in the bottom of the eighth, MLB.com reports.
With the win, Houston starter Dallas Keuchel (17-6) became the American League’s first 17-game winner and improved to 13-0 at home. He struck out 12 batters and gave up three home runs in eight innings. But all three were solo shots.
The Twins head to Kansas City for a series against the Royals beginning Monday night.
