Abreu's two homers power Astros into a Game 3 rout Defending champs take 2-1 series lead over the Twins
José Abreu hit a threerun homer for Houston in a four-run first inning against Sonny Gray and piled on with a two-run shot in the ninth, powering the Astros past the Minnesota Twins 9-1 on Tuesday for a 2-1 lead in their bestof-5 AL Division Series.
Yordan Alvarez hit his fourth home run in three games and Alex Bregman had a homer and an RBI single for the defending World Series champion Astros, who took charge from their first at-bat and moved within one win of a seventh consecutive AL Championship Series appearance. Astros starter Cristian Javier took it from there with nine strikeouts in five scoreless innings.
Game 4 is today at Target Field. If the Twins force Game 5, it would be in Houston on Friday.
Javier has been uneven at best this year, with a 4.56 ERA that was by far his worst in four major league seasons. He failed to finish five innings in five of his prior 11 starts.
Manager Dusty Baker expressed confidence in the 26-year-old since the series began, a belief he connected to his extended experience of seeing Javier at his best.
With 13 misses in 16 swings at Javier’s slider, the Twins flailed through the late afternoon shadows in a feeble response to the early explosion by the Astros. Javier allowed only one hit, a one-out double by Max Kepler in the first that put two runners in scoring position. Javier responded with consecutive strikeouts of Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa.
With five walks and one hit batter, Javier provided the Twins plenty of opportunities to catch up. But the Twins left nine men on base and went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. PHILLIES LOOK TO REGROUP FOLLOWING GAME 2 MELTDOWN >> Take the results at face value and maybe there’s enough reason for the Phillies to believe they’re in the same encouraging spot as a year ago. They won an opener in Atlanta, then lost a second game.
Philadelphia returned home tied 1-1 in the 2022 National League Division Series — just like this season — then won two at home behind a thunderous Philly crowd.
But if you are a believer in momentum heading into Game 3 tonight, then the Braves just might be the team to beat.
A day removed from Game 2’s meltdown, the inconceivable series of events that turned the team from the brink of a series sweep was still being unraveled.
• How did ace Zack Wheeler take a no-hit bid and a 4-0 lead into the sixth, only to start the collapse when he gave up Travis d’Arnaud’s two-run homer in the seventh?
• How could the Phillies have left 11 runners on base?
• And what about Bryce Harper’s baserunning? The two-time NL MVP committed a baserunning blunder when he rounded second base and was doubled up. A great catch by Michael Harris II and an alert backup and throw by Austin Riley sealed the Braves’ 5-4 win that evened the series at one each.
Those were just the main talking points.
D’Arnaud gave the Braves hope with his shot into the left-field seats in the seventh, cutting Philadelphia’s lead to 4-3.
Riley homered off Jeff Hoffman (0-1) into the Phillies bullpen with two outs in the eighth to put the Braves ahead for the first time in the best-of-5 series. Ronald Acuña Jr. scored ahead of Riley after being plunked on the left arm by Hoffman’s first pitch coming in from the bullpen.