Little went right for the Minnesota Twins in Game 3 of their series against the Houston Astros on Tuesday night, with the hometown favorites at Target Field being defeated 9-1.
Despite this return in front of their fans, the Twins were unable to take the lead in this American League semi-final. Their Texan rivals took a 2-1 lead and can eliminate them on Wednesday in Minnesota.
See the highlights above.
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Édouard Julien and his teammates were manhandled by Cristian Javier, who had an excellent match. The starting pitcher struck out nine men in just five innings. Only one hit was hit while he was on the mound. His five walks allowed did no damage.
The Twins were thus limited to three strikes in a safe place. Carlos Correa crossed the plate on a single by Willi Castro in the sixth inning, but this short revival led to nothing better.
A gray day for Sonny
Sonny Gray was a logical choice to start the game as pitcher for the hosts. The 33-year-old veteran is the starting gunner in the playoffs who allowed the fewest home runs (8) in the regular season, but this great statistic was not going to stop the Astros from having fun.
Jose Abreu found a pitch he liked in the first inning. He and two of his teammates circled the paths when he lifted the ball into the left field bleachers in the first inning. In fifth, it was Alex Bregman who punished Gray by stretching his arms in turn. The fallen starter allowed eight hits in just four innings.
Abreu didn’t stop there, as he got another home run off reliever Bailey Ober late in the game, just after Yordan Alvarez’s cannon shot. The man of special occasions added insult to injury and also leads major league baseball with four long balls in the playoffs.
It was a very quiet day at work for Julien, the leadoff hitter in the Twins’ rotation. The Quebecer drew two free passes, but was also muzzled three times at bat. He was the last player removed in this match, having a front row seat to see Houston celebrate their victory.
2023-10-10 23:55:30
#Twins #loss #elimination
