MINNEAPOLIS — Former Houston Astros star and current Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa had high praise for catcher and former teammate Martín Maldonado following the American League Division Series.
The Astros eliminated the Twins Wednesday night in Game 4 of the ALDS with a 3-2 win, clinching the series 3-1.
Correa, who spent seven seasons with the Astros, is in his second season with the Twins and his first postseason since signing with them in 2022.
“The experience matters, and they played really good baseball this series,” Correa said. "They were just a little bit better than us.”
The star shortstop was on deck with two outs in the ninth inning before Astros closer Ryan Pressly struck out Max Kepler.
Correa credited catcher Maldonado for the way his former teammate called the game.
“He knows every hitter’s weaknesses,” Correa said, later adding: “We’ve just got to get better, and we’ve got to have a better plan. There’s a lot of things that could’ve gone better for us, and they didn’t. That’s why we’re here right now talking about this loss.”
The Twins, who set a major league record with 1,654 strikeouts this year, whiffed 14 times in Game 4 after doing the same in Game 3. They totaled just six hits over their two home games in the series. The Twins had a whopping 413 more whiffs than the Astros had with the third-fewest in baseball.
“I want to give credit to Maldonado. Of course, you know, he'll bring it up at some point when I talk to him in the offseason,” Correa said. “But, you know, he knows what he's doing behind the plate, and he knows you know, every hitter's weaknesses and he's going to try to exploit.”