Space City launched a couple of baseballs into orbit Saturday in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. The Houston Astros powerful lineup held off the pesky Twins 6-4. What looked like an easy Houston win through six innings turned into a wild, home run filled Game 1.
The Twins went with Bailey Ober to start and the Astros Jose Altuve greeted him with a long home run to left field on his first pitch of the game. In fact, it's the first time in MLB history that a player homered on the first pitch his team saw in the postseason.
Then in the third inning, Yordan Álvarez hit a bomb to right field with a runner on giving Houston a 3-0 lead. They would add a couple more runs in the fifth making it 5-0 and then Álvarez added another solo shot in the seventh.
The decision to go with Ober over Joe Ryan brought out some second-guessing, but the Twins inability to get runs across the plate in the first few innings made it a moot point. They just couldn't deliver run-scoring hits despite numerous chances early in the game.
"I felt pretty relaxed out there," Ober said after the game. "Just kind of missed on two pitches and they hit them out."
But the bats came alive late thanks to the long ball. Finally, the Twins delivered when Polanco hit a mammoth, three-run homer to right field to make it 5-3. Then Mr. October for the Twins delivered again when Royce Lewis hit another massive, 409 foot home run to close the gap to 5-4. Lewis now has three home runs in just three career postseason games.
It was a little bit of a struggle early in the game for Verlander but he worked around it. He had trouble finding the strike zone but the Twins couldn't make him pay despite getting the leadoff hitter on each of the first three innings.
Edouard Julien walked and Jorge Polanco singled to start the first. The hero of Game 1 in the Wild Card Series, Royce Lewis, grounded into a double-play moving Julien to third. Max Kepler walked on four pitches. But Alex Kiriloff couldn't deliver the two-out hit the Twins needed, and grounded out to short.
The Twins continued to make noise in the second. Carlos Correa, playing in Houston where he had so much postseason success, started the inning with a single. Matt Wallner lined out but Ryan Jeffers followed with a single. But another double-play off the bat of Michael A. Taylor snuffed out the chance to score.
Then Julien got caught in a rundown off second base after a leadoff double in the third ending yet another rally.
In the eighth, the Twins got a double from Correa who then moved to third with one out. But Jeffers struck out and Castro grounded to second keeping it a two-run game.
The story of the game was the Twins' lack of inability to get a hit with runners on base (outside of Polanco's home run). They finished just 1-12 with runners in scoring position and left eight players on-base.
"He made some big pitches when he needed to," said Jeffers. "It's what we did in the first series. We were one or two hits away from having a lead early and putting pressure on him."
Verlander settled in by the fourth inning and eventually cruised through six shutout innings, dropping Blyleven-like curveballs under Twin bats and fooling Julien so much he lost his bat and helmet on a swinging strike three.
After the Twins closed the game to 5-4, Caleb Thielbar was brought in to face Álvarez, a lefty versus lefty matchup. Thielbar is Minnesota's only left handed reliever and hadn't allowed a home run to a lefty all year. But Álvarez hits lefties historically well and hit a rocket off the right field foul pole to give Houston some breathing room. Only four hitters in MLB history have a better OPS off left handed pitchers: Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Barry Bonds. That is quite a list.
The Twins and Astros Game 2 is set for Sunday. Pregame begins at 6:00 p.m. on 830 WCCO, 102.9 FM The Wolf, and on the Audacy app (in-market restrictions apply).