MINNEAPOLIS — Late afternoon shadows made the ball difficult to pick up, and Minnesota's Sonny Gray presented a tough opponent on the mound.
The Houston Astros just powered their way through and produced yet another October masterpiece.
José Abreu hit a three-run homer for Houston in a four-run first inning against Gray and piled on with a two-run shot in the ninth, carrying the Astros past the Twins 9-1 on Tuesday for a 2-1 AL Division Series lead.
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 champions, 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.
“It was kind of just pass the torch to the next guy," said Bregman, who has 16 postseason homers. "Put together a good at-bat and grind it out.”
Game 4 is at Target Field on Wednesday. If the Twins force Game 5, it would be in Houston on Friday.
“This was one of the reasons why I signed with this organization, to be in the best situation and compete,” said Abreu, who set his low with a .237 average this season, nearly 50 points below his career mark.
Splitting the first two games in Houston gave the Twins home-field advantage, and they sold out both games three days in advance. Johan Santana threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Joe Mauer, and the crowd the Twins credited for carrying them to a two-game sweep of Toronto in the AL Wild Card Series was roaring from the start.
The Astros were hardly going to be fazed by the environment. They went 51-30 on the road, the third-best record in the major leagues, and have made October games quite a habit since their run started in 2017.
“It’s a very confident club, not a cocky club. We don’t showboat too much. We just play,” manager Dusty Baker said. “The guys have a knack of picking each other up."
Javier had a 4.56 ERA that was by far his worst in four big league seasons and failed to finish five innings in five of his prior 11 starts, but the Astros weren't concerned.
“He has a slow heartbeat. He wants the baseball,” Bregman said. “He’s a competitor and we have all the confidence in the world in him every single time he takes the mound.”
The right-hander, who threw six hitless innings in World Series Game 4 last year to beat Philadelphia, lowered his career postseason ERA to 1.91 over 37 2/3 innings.
“Their guy did what I didn’t do. He executed pitches in spots with runners on,” Gray said.
With 13 misses in 16 swings at Javier's slider, the Twins flailed through the shadows in a feeble response to the early Astros explosion. Javier allowed one hit, a one-out double by Max Kepler in the first, but he stranded two runners in scoring position with consecutive strikeouts of Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa.
With five walks and one hit batter, the Twins had plenty of opportunities to catch up. They loaded the bases on walks in the fifth inning, but Kepler and Lewis ended the inning with strikeouts.
The Twins left nine men on base and went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Correa, who has a hit in all five postseason games and is 9 for 19 with four RBIs, scored on Willi Castro's one-out single in the sixth. But Jeremy Peña made a diving stop at shortstop of a grounder rocketed by Ryan Jeffers and leaped to his feet to start a double play.
“It was a difficult day to hit, so them jumping out early was very, very important,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Whichever team did that was going to definitely be in the driver’s seat.”
FAST START
Jose Altuve greeted Gray with a single, and a one-out bouncer down the first-base line eluded Alex Kirilloff’s glove for a two-base error. Kyle Tucker put the Astros on the board with a single. Then Abreu hit a 2-1 sweeper into the second deck for a 4-0 lead that took some buzz out of the ballpark.
“We were fighting an uphill battle as a team. I was fighting an uphill battle every inning,” Gray said.
GOING DEEP
Gray gave up two home runs in a game for the first time in two seasons with the Twins. The previous multi-homer game against him was on Sept. 24, 2021, with Cincinnati.
The eighth major league pitcher since 2000 to throw at least 180 innings with eight or fewer homers allowed, Gray was the runaway leader in fewest home runs allowed per nine innings this year (0.391). He gave up eight hits and one walk in four-plus innings, with five runs — one unearned — and six strikeouts.
“Thankfully we were able to get the right swings across,” Abreu said.
AWESOME ALVAREZ
Alvarez is 6 for 12 with six RBIs in the series, and his four homers are tied for the most in the first three games of a single postseason with Juan Gonzalez (1996) and Bob Robertson (1971).
“He’s the best hitter in baseball,” Altuve said, “and hopefully he continues to hit like that.”
UP NEXT
Astros RHP José Urquidy will start Game 4. He beat the Twins in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series in 2020. Twins RHP Joe Ryan will make his first career postseason start on Wednesday. He has allowed 13 earned runs, nine walks and three homers in 14 innings over three career starts against the Astros.
First inning
Houston 4, Minnesota 0
Jose Altuve led off the game with a single and Alex Bregman went down looking for the first out of the inning. Yordan Alvarez reached second base on a ball hit down the first-base line, moving Altuve to third. Kyle Tucker singled through the left side of the infield, bringing in Altuve for the first run of the game.
José Abreu then homered to left field to make it a 4-0 game.
Yainer Díaz went down looking and Dubón popped out to end the inning.
Javier struck out Edouard Julien to start the bottom half of the inning. Jorge Polanco then worked a walk and Max Kepler doubled to right field, putting two runners in scoring position with one out. Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa both struck out swinging to end the threat.
Second inning
Houston 4, Minnesota 0
Jeremy Peña led off the second inning with a single and Martín Maldonado laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him into scoring position. The single extended Peña's postseason hitting streak to 10 games.
Altuve went down looking and Bregman grounded out to end the inning.
Javier struck out Alex Kirilloff and Matt Wallner to begin the home half of the fifth. Willi Castro fouled out on a bunt attempt to end the inning.
Third inning
Houston 4, Minnesota 0
Alvarez doubled down the first-base line to begin the third inning against Gray. Tucker grounded out to second, moving Alvarez to third with one out. José Abreu and Díaz struck out to end the frame.
Ryan Jeffers was hit by a pitch to start the home half of the third. Julien also walked by Javier got Polanco swinging and Kepler popped out to left field for the second out of the inning. Lewis lined out to left to end the inning.
Fourth inning
Houston 4, Minnesota 0
Dubón singled to left to start the fourth. Peña and Maldonado both flew out to right field, turning the lineup over. Altuve then went down looking to end the inning.
Javier got Correa to ground out to shortstop on the first pitch of the home half of the inning. Kirilloff grounded out to second for the second out and Wallner struck out swinging to end the inning, Javier's seventh strikeout of the game.
Fifth inning
Houston 5, Minnesota 0
Gray remained in the game and Bregman homered to lead off the fifth inning for the Astros.
Alvarez followed with a double down the right-field line, his second of the game. Gray walked Tucker, which ended up being the last batter he faced. Emilio Pagán came on in relief and got José Abreu to pop out, Díaz swinging and Dubón to fly out to right to end the inning.
Javier walked Castro to start the inning but got Jeffers to fly out to center for the first out of the inning. Julien and Polanco worked walks, loading the bases. Kepler struck out looking and Lewis went down swinging to end the threat.
Sixth inning
Houston 6, Minnesota 1
Kenta Maeda replaced Pagán to begin the inning. Peña walked and Maldonado singled to left, moving Peña to third as he was in motion on the play. Altuve lined out to shortstop for the first out of the frame. Bregman delivered an RBI single to tack on another run for the Astros.
Alvarez grounded out to first for the second out of the inning. Tucker grounded out to end the frame.
Javier's day ended after five scoreless innings and nine strikeouts.
Hunter Brown came on in relief to face the middle of the Twins' lineup. Correa singled through the shift to open the inning. Donovan Solano pinch-hit for Kirilloff and flew out to right for the first out. Wallner worked a walk, putting runners on first and second with one down. Castro singled to right, scoring Correa and making it 6-1. Jeffers grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Seventh inning
Houston 6, Minnesota 1
Maeda remained in the game to face José Abreu, who struck out swinging to start the inning. Díaz grounded out and Dubón struck out to end the inning.
Bryan Abreu relieved Brown and worked a 1-2-3 inning.
Eighth inning
Houston 7, Minnesota 1
Bailey Ober took over for Maeda and got Peña to fly out to center to start the inning. Maldonado singled and Altuve flew out to left for the second out. Bregman struck out looking to end the inning.
Phil Maton relieved Bryan Abreu in the eighth inning and got Lewis to line out for the first out. Correa lined out to center and Solano went down looking to end the inning.
Ninth inning
Houston 9, Minnesota 1
Ober stayed in the game to face the heart of the Astros' lineup. Alvarez homered to increase the lead to 7-1.
Tucker followed with a walk and then José Abreu hit his second homer of the game to make it 9-1.
Díaz struck out and Dubón singled to center, knocking Ober out of the game in favor of Griffin Jax. Peña lined out to the warning track in right field for the second out of the inning. Maldonado went down swinging to end the inning.
Rafael Montero took over for Maton for the final frame and walked Wallner to start the frame. Castro popped out on the second pitch he saw and Jeffers went down looking, leaving the Twins with one out to work with and an eight-run deficit. Julien struck out swinging to end the game.