Yordan does it to the Twins again
Up until the 9th inning of today’s series rubber match, the Minnesota Twins had done a remarkable job of keeping Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez out of the box score. As you may recall, he almost single-handedly bounced MN from the 2023 ALDS. But today, not even an early 7-1 Twins lead could prevent Alvarez from playing hero (or villain) yet again.
I missed the first four pitches of this game—and by the time I turned it on the Astros had runners on first and third against Twins starter Chris Paddack. While Yordan Alvarez would plate Jose Altuve with a sacrifice fly to give Houston the afternoon’s first run, Paddack weaseled out of the frame otherwise unscathed.
It didn’t take long for the Twins to not only tie the game—Trevor Larnach sac fly plating Matt Wallner—but also break it open a tad with a two-run Ryan Jeffers double off the RCF wall.
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After Paddack escaped another jam thanks to a nifty double play started by Carlos Correa, C-4 then knocked in Mickey Gasper (who had worked a 10-pitch BB to start the second inning) to increase the lead to 4-1 and chasing HOU SP Ronel Blanco to an early shower.
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The Space City’s bullpen did little better. In the 4th, back-to-back RBI doubles from Byron Buxton & Larnach—set up by a Wallner single and Correa walk—really kicked the door open (or so we all thought). 7-1 Twins!
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Of course, because true quality starts from Paddack are rare and the Twins burned through the bullpen yesterday, the Astros clawed to within two runs by the 6th. The damage could have been even worse if not for a sprawling catch from Harrison Bader in LF to stifle a rally.
After a blink-and-you-missed-it shutdown 8th from Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax came on for the save. Alas, in another blink-and-you-missed-it scenario, a first-pitch Isaac Parades single was quickly followed by a towering Alvarez home run. Jax would give up another ringing double to Christian Walker but ultimately escape without surrendering the tie.
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After Josh Hader set the Twins down in order in the 9th, it would be the first edition of 2025 bonus baseball.
Houston played a little small-ball (bunt, stolen base, aggressive base running) in the 10th to take a 9-7 lead at the expense of Louis Varland. Meanwhile, Minnesota could not budge their gift runner from second base as Hader slammed the door shut.
Your Final: Houston Astros 9, Minnesota Twins 7.
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Short starts leading to bullpen over-extension (+ utterly ineffective Jax) drop the Twins back down to 3-6 as the struggle to reach .500 continues in the early goings of ‘25.
Studs
- Paddack: For showing some solid stuff and working out of jams.
- Wallner-Correa-Buxton-Larnach: The top of the order is (finally) heating up!
- Bader: Nice work with the bat and in the field.
Duds
- Also Paddack: For ultimately pitching about in line with his Twins averages of 5.50 ERA & 1.40 WHIP.
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- Jax: Almost-immediate blown save—and had to scrap just to avoid coughing up the tie.
Comment of the Game
- Nagurskiinsandpoint’s two-word (remarkably neither of them four letters) summation.