USA TODAY International Edition
Astros extend Twins’ misery
Through scandal and plague, injuries and insolence, the Houston Astros remain unstoppable in the American League playoffs.
Gifted a berth only because a 16team, pandemic- inspired workaround granted them a reprieve after a 29- 31 regular season, the Astros pitched with precision and got just enough punch from their scandal- plagued stars to defeat the Minnesota Twins 3- 1 Wednesday in Minneapolis and sweep the bestof- three wild- card series.
Carlos Correa, caught in a spring war of words with fellow big leaguers after he pushed back against criticism of the Astros’ 2017 sign- stealing scheme, hit a go- ahead home run in the seventh inning and Houston got another excellent long relief outing to stifle the Twins and advance to the AL Division Series.
Minnesota, meanwhile, lost its 18th consecutive postseason game, a streak that extends to 2004, and exited in the opening round of the playoffs – including two wild- card game losses – for the eighth time since 2003. In winning the AL Central, the Twins drew the No. 6 seed Astros, who looked dispirited in finishing the regular season with five losses in their final seven games.
And why not? With November 2019 revelations of their 2017 sign- stealing scandal casting a pall over their lone World Series title and resulting in the firings of general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A. J. Hinch, the Astros faced withering criticism all spring. After the shutdown mandated by the novel coronavirus, they received just one start from ace Justin Verlander before he suffered an elbow injury that will sideline him into most of 2021.
Yet while scorned, the Astros are still laden with stars. In Game 2, Correa’s 12th career postseason home run snapped a 1- 1 tie in the seventh.
So it is on to the ALDS and a date with the winner of the White Sox- Athletics series – which is tied after the A’s won 5- 3 Wednesday to force a decisive game three Thursday – and a date in a fourth consecutive AL Championship Series in the offing.
Rays 8, Blue Jays 2: For the second year in a row, Tampa Bay has advanced to the ALDS. This time the Rays might be better- equipped to survive any challenge. The Rays made quick work of Toronto, vanquishing the No. 8 seed in two games. The Rays last won the AL pennant in 2008.