Astros sweep as Twins lose 18th straight playoff game
Shaken up by a scandal before the virus outbreak shrunk the season, the Houston Astros barely played well enough to reach the playoffs — with the rest of baseball actively rooting against them.
Well, they’re not ready to leave yet.
Carlos Correa hit a twoout, tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning for the Astros, who produced another stifling pitching performance and swept Minnesota over two games with a 3-1 victory Wednesday in Minneapolis that sent the Twins to a record 18th straight postseason loss.
“I know a lot of people are mad. I know a lot of people don’t want to see us here,” Correa said. “But what are they going to say now?”
Nine months after Houston’s rules-breaking, signstealing system was revealed, the Astros advanced to the Division Series in Los Angeles. As the sixth seed, they’ll face the A’s or White Sox starting Monday at Dodger Stadium.
“I don’t think they necessarily thought that they had anything to prove. They just had to play ball,” said manager Dusty Baker, who took his fifth different team to the playoffs and advanced for the first time in seven rounds since winning the 2003 NL Division Series with the Cubs.
The Twins are 0-18 in the playoffs since winning Game 1 of their Division Series at the New York Yankees on Oct. 5, 2004, a total of seven rounds lost. RAYS8, BLUEJAYS2>> Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam and top- seeded Tampa Bay completed a two-game sweep in St. Petersburg, Fla., to win a postseason series for the first time in 12 years. The East champion Rays advanced to an ALDS against the Yankees or Indians.
Renfroe launched the first playoff grand slam in franchise history during a six-run second inning off Hyun Jin Ryu that also included a two-run homer by No. 9 hitter Mike Zunino. Ryu was rocked for a season-high seven runs in 1 2/3 innings, the lefty’s shortest outing of the season for the wild-card Blue Jays. CARDINALS 7, PADRES 4 >> Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run home run during a four-run first inning, St. Louis’ bullpen held strong after starter Kwang Hyun Kim stumbled in his playoff debut, and the Cardinals ruined San Diego’s long-awaited return to the playoffs in the opener of their series in San Diego.
The Cardinals need one more win to eliminate the Padres from the postseason for the fourth time since 1996. They swept the Padres in the NL Division Series in 1996 and 2005, and won 3-1 in 2006, which was the last time San Diego made the postseason.
Giovanny Gallegos (1- 0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Alex Reyes got the last four outs for the save. MARLINS 5, CUBS 1 >> Corey Dickerson hit a three-run homer off a fading Kyle Hendricks in the seventh inning, and visiting Miami beat Chicago in Game 1.
Jesús Aguilar also homered and Sandy Alcantara pitched three-hit ball into the seventh as Miami conjured up memories of past playoff magic in the franchise’s first postseason game since it won the World Series in 2003. The Marlins, who rallied past the Cubs in a memorable NLCS that year, have never lost a playoff series. NLCS, WORLD SERIES TO HAVE SOME FANS >> Fans can take themselves out to the ball game for the first time this season during the NLCS and World Series at new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Major League Baseball said approximately 11,500 tickets will be available for each game. That is about 28% of the 40,518-capacity, retractable-roof stadium of the Texas Rangers.