DRAWING BLANKS
Four pitchers combine on a four-hit, 4-0 shutout of the Twins.
After deja vu cruelly struck in back-to-back defeats, the Astros were not about to be foiled three times in a row.
Luis Garcia finally gave the Astros the starting pitching performance they craved en route to a 4-0 win over the Twins on Saturday, Houston’s first victory in the third game of a four-game series.
Garcia spun six scoreless innings and struck out eight batters, one shy of his career high. He allowed just two hits (both doubles) and did not surrender a walk while pounding the strike zone. The Twins swung and missed 18 times against him and struggled especially with his fastball, which topped out at 96 mph.
The little run insurance the Astros provided behind Garcia proved enough.
Chas McCormick (2for-4) continued his hot streak against the Twins with his second RBI and third multihit game of the series, while Yordan Alvarez became the fastest player in Astros history to reach 50 career home runs (in his 184th game).
Aledmys Díaz padded the lead in the eighth inning with a two-run double.
The Astros kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Kyle Tucker and Díaz hit backto-back singles before Tucker advanced to third base on a passed ball. McCormick got the Astros on the board with an RBI single on a ground ball to shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who flubbed his glove-to-hand exchange, allowing Tucker to score.
Garcia emerged unscathed from his first time through the order on 38 pitches (27 strikes) with five strikeouts, including three consecutive in the second inning. He retired the first 10 batters he faced before Brent Rooker rocketed a one-out double 109 mph off the bat in the top of the fourth inning. But Garcia quickly closed out the frame with a strikeout and a flyout.
On Michael Pineda’s second pitch of the fourth inning, Alvarez hammered a low changeup 427 feet over the center field wall for his 22nd home run of the season and 50th of his career. The next three Astros went down in order behind him to keep the lead at 2-0.
Minnesota got another double off Garcia with one out in the top of the fifth, but the righthander procured two straight outs to wipe the basepaths clean.
Garcia finished with a 12-3 sixth inning with the help of his defense. Shortstop Carlos Correa gracefully leaped into the air to snag Max Kepler’s line drive for the second out. In the next at-bat, Jose Altuve made a jumping grab of his own to deny Rooker a base hit and close the book on Garcia’s outing.
Correa’s one-out walk in the eighth inning sparked Houston’s final scoring opportunity. After Alvarez struck out, Tucker dropped a fly ball into shallow right field for his third hit of the night. Díaz then bounced a ground ball down the third base line into the corner for a two-run double.
For the second consecutive game, Houston trotted out a bullpen alignment of Ryne Stanek, Kendall Graveman and Ryan Pressly. Each man tossed one scoreless frame and fanned one batter.
Stanek gave up one hit in the seventh inning. Twins outfielder Jake Cave dropped a deep fly ball into left field and was halfway to second base when he reversed course at the sight of Michael Brantley’s incoming throw. He made it safely back to first base, but during the next at-bat he was forced out at second base to end the frame.
Graveman took over in the eighth and allowed one single before handing the ball to Pressly in a non-save situation. The closer needed just 11 pitches to complete the shutout.