Houston beats Minnesota in game one

Astros take seesaw opener over Twins with late runs

Astros' Yuli Gurriel
Yuli Gurriel had one of the big hits in the back-and-forth game with the Twins Friday night. Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Yuli Gurriel had one of the big hits in the back-and-forth game with the Twins Friday night.

After taking two of three in Boston, Houston arrived at Target Field in Minneapolis to take on the Twins for the last leg of this road trip. The opener provided plenty of excitement, with the teams going back-and-forth throughout the night before the Astros' offense would finally get the final blow in the ninth inning to grab the win.

Final Score: Astros 6, Twins 4

Astros' Record: 36-27, second in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Ryne Stanek (1-1)

Losing Pitcher: Matt Shoemaker (2-8)

Astros and Twins trade blows

The ball was carrying in the air in Friday's opener, and both teams took advantage early. Nelson Cruz started things off in the bottom of the first, hitting a solo shot off of Jose Urquidy to give Minnesota the early 1-0 lead. Miguel Sano doubled that with a solo homer in the next inning, but Houston would get some traffic on the bags to set up a sac fly by Alex Bregman to cut it in half at 2-1.

The teams traded homers in the subsequent few frames, with Josh Donaldson launching one in the bottom of the third, Jose Altuve getting one in the top of the fifth, and Yuli Gurriel putting one over the fence to lead off the top of the sixth, all solo homers. That tied the game at 3-3, which held until the top of the seventh when Houston would get runners in scoring position to set up an RBI groundout by Alex Bregman, giving the Astros their first lead of the night.

Urquidy turns things around for a quality start

That also put Jose Urquidy in a winning position for the first time. After allowing a solo home run in each of the first three innings, he turned things around with four scoreless after that, allowing just one hit over that span and keeping the work needed from Houston's sporadic bullpen limited. His final line: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8K, 103 P.

Houston wins the battle

Unfortunately for Urquidy, his bullpen would not finish things scoreless to keep him in line for the win as Ryne Stanek entered in the bottom of the eighth and gave up the fourth solo homer of the night and second to Josh Donaldson to tie the game 4-4. Houston broke the tie in their favor again in the top of the ninth, with Myles Straw reaching base with a leadoff single, moving to second on a passed ball, then scoring the go-ahead run on an RBI double by Martin Maldonado.

Maldonado came in to make it 6-4 after moving to third on a lineout, then scoring on an RBI single by Michael Brantley. That presented a save opportunity for Ryan Pressly, who entered in the bottom of the ninth to try and put away his former team. He converted the save, tossing a 1-2-3 inning to finish off the two-run win for the Astros, giving them a chance to secure another series with a win on Saturday in game two of three.

Up Next: The middle game of this series will get started at 6:15 PM Central on Saturday. Luis Garcia (5-3, 2.75 ERA) will try to keep his dominant stretch alive for the Astros, having notched five wins in five starts, going opposite Jose Berrios (6-2, 3.58 ERA) for the Twins.

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Stefon Diggs will miss the remainder of the season. Composite Getty Image.

Houston Texans fans have been waiting to hear the latest on the status of wide receiver Stefon Diggs after he left Sunday's game with a knee injury.

We received a disappointing update from Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

Diggs will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL. Fortunately for the Texans, the trade deadline is still a few days away.

If Houston would like to add some depth to the position, Giants WR Darius Slayton would make a lot of sense. He's played well this year (29 rec, 420 yards), and is a free agent after the 2024 season.

So he shouldn't cost too much draft capital if the Texans decide to make a deal.

Panthers receiver Diontae Johnson would have been the obvious choice, but he was just traded to the Ravens.

Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers could be another option. But he's still under contract for the 2025 season, so his price tag may scare off the Texans.

Jets receiver Mike Williams could be under consideration. His role has taken a backseat with the addition of Davante Adams. He has two seasons with over 1,000 yards in his career. He'll be a free agent after the season.

On the low end, Patriots WR KJ Osborn could be another possibility. Osborn is on a one-year deal and only has 7 catches for 57 yards this year.

Osborn recorded over 540 receiving yards in three straight seasons for the Vikings before signing with the Patriots after the 2023 season.

If the Texans decide to hold tight, Nico Collins is expected to return next week for their matchup with the Lions.


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Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Find out more about it here.

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