With the calendar turned to May, the Astros looked to start the new month on the right foot by getting a win on Wednesday night in Minnesota against the Twins in game three of four. Here's a quick rundown of the final result and three hits from the game:
Final Score: Twins 6, Astros 2
Record: 18-13, first in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Martin Perez (4-0, 3.41 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Collin McHugh (3-3, 4.97 ERA).
1) Rough night for McHugh
After two perfect innings to start his night, Collin McHugh struggled in the third, allowing a two-run home run to the upper deck to get the Twins on the board then later in the inning committed an error that would make it an early 3-0 lead for Minnesota. McHugh allowed another run on a couple of hits in the fifth, increasing the deficit to four runs. McHugh's final line: 6 innings, 4 earned runs, 5 hits, 1 home run, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts.
2) Even worse night for Houston's offense
Much like Monday night's game, the Astros were overpowered by a Minnesota starter as Martin Perez would keep the Astros scoreless and with only four hits while striking out seven times over his eight innings of work. Trevor Hildenberger came in to close things out in the ninth and despite allowing a couple of runs would finish off the one-sided win.
3) Devenski allows two more runs out of the pen
With McHugh's night done after six four-run innings, Chris Devenski took over to eat up some innings out of the bullpen. Although the runs wouldn't factor into the outcome, Devenski struggled in the bottom of the eighth, allowing a couple of runs to extend Minnesota's lead to 6-0 at the time.
Up Next: The Astros and Twins will wrap up this four-game series with an afternoon game tomorrow before both teams travel to their weekend destinations. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PM and will feature Brad Peacock (2-1, 3.67 ERA) for Houston going up against Jose Berrios (4-1, 2.97 ERA) for Minnesota.
The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.
