TWINS DEFEAT ASTROS
Astros' offense falls flat in loss to Twins
May 31, 2024, 10:35 pm
Twins defeat Astros, 6-1. Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images.
Pablo López pitched seven strong innings and Trevor Larnach hit a two-run homer to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 6-1 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
Carlos Santana added a solo home run and Willi Castro tripled to help the Twins to their fourth victory in five games.
López (5-5) allowed six hits and a run with six strikeouts as he tied his longest start of the season.
Alex Bregman went deep in the third inning for his third home run in four games, but the Astros couldn’t do much else on offense in their fourth loss in five games.
Castro’s triple opened the third before Jose Miranda walked. There was one out in the inning when Carlos Correa’s double to right field scored Castro to make it 1-0. Miranda scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Kirilloff to leave Minnesota up 2-0.
Bregman cut the lead to 1 when he sent Lopez’s first pitch of the fourth inning off the foul pole in left field.
Castro walked with no outs in the fifth before Larnach made it 4-1 with his shot to left-center field off Ronel Blanco (5-1) with one out.
Max Kepler was hit by a pitch to start the sixth and moved to third on a double by Ryan Jeffers. Kepler scored on a groundout by Manuel Margot to extend the lead to 5-1.
Santana’s home run off Alex Speas made it 6-1 in the eighth.
Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut, allowed three hits and four runs while walking three in 4 2/3 innings for his first loss.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: 3B Royce Lewis (severe quadriceps strain) went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in his fifth rehabilitation start for Triple-A St. Paul on Friday. Manager Rocco Baldelli wouldn’t say when he expected him to come off the injured list, but said it wouldn’t be this weekend.
Astros: RHP Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) threw 20 pitches in a live batting practice session Friday. Garcia will go to Houston’s spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Florida, next week to throw a couple more live batting practice sessions before beginning a minor league rehabilitation assignment.
UP NEXT Houston LHP Framber Valdez (3-3, 4.34 ERA) opposes Joe Ryan (4-3, 2.96) when the series continues Saturday.
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Coming off a 10-win regular season and an appearance in the divisional round of the playoffs, expectations are high for the Houston Texans in 2024.
However, coach DeMeco Ryans is only concerned with what is happening inside the team.
“We have a lot of room for improvement, and my expectations and what I expect to see from everyone is just get a little better each day,” Ryans said. “If we get a little bit better each day, we'll be exactly where we want to be.”
The day before starting his second training camp as Texans head coach, Ryans told his players they should expect more from themselves than anyone else.
“Nobody on the outside is going to have a bigger expectation than on the inside of the building,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “Right now, our expectation is just building that building, building a tall building."
After combining for just 11 wins from 2020-2022, Houston surprised many to win the AFC South before beating the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round. The Texans likely won’t catch anyone by surprise this season.
“It’s gonna be harder,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We have a target on our back this year, and that’s how you should want it.”
The emergence of Stroud is a big reason why so much is expected of the Texans in 2024. The second overall pick of the 2023 draft threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns on his way to being the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“C.J. has done a really good job this offseason, as a leader when it comes to working with other guys,” Ryans said. “Knowing that he’s not just working by himself, but finding the avenues to get a group together and work together. That’s very important, especially when it comes to timing in the passing game.”
The Texans added talent around Stroud over the offseason, acquiring Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs from Buffalo and Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon from Cincinnati before the draft.
Mixon will help a Texans rushing offense that averaged just 3.7 yards per carry, fifth worst in the NFL last season, while Diggs, who has finished with more than 100 catches the past four seasons, joins a passing attack that returns its five leading pass catchers.
“I’ve been watching Diggs for a while,” wide receiver Nico Collins said. “I was in middle school, and he was in Minnesota making plays, so it’s just crazy that he’s part of the squad.”
On the other side of the ball, the Texans signed four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter to a two-year, $49 million contract after a 16 1/2 sack season with the Minnesota Vikings to pair with Anderson, the 2023 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, on the defensive line.
Expectations are lofty for a team that has not advanced to a conference championship game in its 22-year history, but Stroud and his teammates aren’t shying away from those expectations.
“That’s how it should be,” Stroud said. “The person that always doubts himself probably will never make it to that point, so you gotta have confidence and have a goal and a plan and execute that plan.”