ASTROS WIN THE SERIES

Houston Astros rally from six down to stun Twins in extras

Houston Astros rally from six down to stun Twins in extras
Astros beat the Twins 9-7. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

Jose Altuve drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the 10th inning after Yordan Alvarez tied it with a two-run homer in the ninth and the Houston Astros rallied from an early six-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins 9-7 on Sunday.

Altuve's single off Twins reliever Louis Varland (1-1) scored automatic runner Brendan Rogers from third base.

Jake Meyers then stole home on a double steal to make it 9-7.

Josh Hader (1-0) retired all six batters he faced to earn the victory.

The Twins led 7-1 after four innings, but the Astros came all the way back by scoring twice in the ninth off Twins reliever Griffin Jax to tie it at 7. Isaac Paredes led off with his fourth single of the game and Alvarez hit Jax's next pitch for his first home run of the season.

Matt Wallner had four hits and Trevor Larnach drove in three runs for Minnesota.

The Twins scored three runs in the first, a rally keyed by Ryan Jeffers' two-out, two-run double. They added three more in the fourth, with Byron Buxton and Larnach's back-to-back doubles driving in the runs as Minnesota took a 7-1 lead.

Key moment

With two on and two outs in the sixth, Alvarez sliced a sinking liner to left field off reliever Danny Coulombe. Harrison Bader charged in and made a diving catch to preserve Minnesota’s 7-5 lead.

Key stat

The Astros (.565) and Twins (.551) began the day ranked 29th and 30th in the league in OPS, but combined for 24 hits in the game.

Up next

Astros: Begin a three-game series at Seattle on Monday with RHP Hayden Weseneski (0-1, 5.40) starting the opener.

Twins: Send RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-0, 4.50) to the mound Monday when they open a four-game series at Kansas City.

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Another injury scare for Houston. Composite Getty Image.

Astros first baseman Christian Walker left Wednesday's game against the Athletics after being hit by a pitch on his right hand.

Manager Joe Espada said that he was hit on the top of his hand near his knuckles and that X-rays were negative.

“That's a good sign,” Espada said. “So we'll see how he feels tomorrow.”

Walker was hit by a 96 mph pitch from Luis Severino in the fourth inning. He writhed in pain for a few seconds before trotting to first base, where he was examined by a trainer.

He remained in the game and scored on a two-out single by Cam Smith.

Walker played defense in the next two innings before being replaced by pinch-hitter Mauricio Dubón in the bottom of the sixth.

“He played defense and once he came back for his at-bat, we asked him to grip a bat and he wasn't very comfortable doing that,” Espada said.

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