Kyle Farmer went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Byron Buxton belted a three-run homer, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 9-6 win over the visiting Houston Astros on Saturday.
Minnesota jumped to an early 4-0 lead before Houston pulled even in the top of the third inning on Yordan Alvarez’s third career grand slam. After scoring the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, the Twins added four runs in the eighth.
The Astros rallied in the ninth on Jeremy Pena’s two-run homer against Jovani Moran. Houston put runners at the corners before Jhoan Duran replaced Moran and struck out pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz on three pitches for his second save.
Twins starter Joe Ryan (2-0) allowed four runs on three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts over six innings. Jorge Lopez and Griffin Jax each tossed a scoreless inning as Minnesota pitchers retired 18 in a row at one point.
The Twins scored four runs in the second inning against Astros starter Luis Garcia. After Nick Gordon and Donovan Solano each singled to begin the inning, Farmer belted a 397-foot homer over the wall in left-center field.
The Twins tacked on another run on Trevor Larnach’s two-out RBI single. Houston avoided further damage when Carlos Correa was thrown out at home on the play.
Garcia yielded four runs on six hits over four innings. He walked three and struck out four while throwing 86 pitches.
Houston tied the game in the third inning when Martin Maldonado and Chas McCormick each singled with one out. After Alex Bregman walked to load the bases, Alvarez crushed Ryan’s first offering to even the score.
The Twins moved ahead with a run in the sixth against Seth Martinez (1-1). Farmer, who hit a walk-off single to give the Twins a 3-2, 10-inning victory in Friday’s series opener, delivered a one-out double before scoring on Christian Vazquez’s single.
Minnesota scored four runs in the eighth after sending nine batters to the plate. Farmer singled with one on and one out and scored on Vazquez’s single to make it a 6-4 game. Buxton then came to the plate with two outs and hit a three-run homer against Ronel Blanco.
–Field Level Media