HOUSTON – The rosters have changed, the Astros have a losing record and the stakes are a lot lower in June than in October. Still, it’s possible to have flashbacks this weekend to last year’s American League Division Series.
Astros mash four home runs off Joe Ryan in 5-2 victory over Twins
Joe Ryan was shelled for five earned runs in five innings all off the long ball, including a pair of home runs from Yordan Alvarez.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
June 2, 2024 at 2:15AM
Yordan Alvarez made sure of it.
Alvarez, who homered four times when these teams met in the playoffs last fall, slugged a Joe Ryan slider more than 400 feet into the right field upper deck in the first inning Saturday, then sizzled a long line drive in the same direction in the fifth, leading the Houston Astros to a 5-2 victory over the Twins at Minute Maid Park that felt a lot more lopsided than the score.
Kyle Tucker also homered off Ryan, Tucker’s 19th of the season, as did José Abreu, the former AL MVP who had only one extra-base hit all season, struggling so mightily that he was sent to the minor leagues for a month.
“It’s just frustrating. I don’t know where the Tucker [pitch] was located, but all the other ones were exactly executed where we wanted them to be,” said Ryan, who hadn’t allowed a home run in his previous 18 innings. “Command was there, and we executed the game plan pretty much to a tee. It’s definitely frustrating.”
It was Ryan’s fourth career start with four or more homers, and it gave the Twins four different pitchers who have allowed 10 or more home runs. No other major league team has more than two.
“Compared to his last couple of starts, when he threw the ball fantastic, Joe worked behind a little bit more today, which made his life a little more difficult,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “A couple of the homers, the pitches are actually pretty decent pitches. They’re not pitches you’d expect to be put in the seats. … [But] Alvarez, he’s a pretty good player.”
One Astro who was definitely not the same as he was last October was lefthander Framber Valdez, the only Houston starter to take a loss in the ALDS. This time, Valdez was unhittable for six innings, facing the minimum 18 hitters in that span.
Valdez struck out only four, but the sinkerballer recorded nine outs on ground balls. And when the Twins did hit the ball to the outfield, Tucker and Jake Meyers were there to make a few spectacular catches, robbing Kyle Farmer, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton of extra-base hits.
“Tucker made a couple of nice plays. If you have just an average-defending right fielder out there today, we’re probably running around the bases, scoring a few runs early, and the game changes,” Baldelli said. “But he turned those good swings into outs, and we just were kind of kept at bay for a while.”
Manuel Margot finally broke up the no-hitter in the seventh inning, leading off by grounding a ball just past a diving Jose Altuve, and Jose Miranda eventually singled him home to break up the shutout.
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Was Margot aware that the Twins didn’t have a hit in the first six innings?
“Not really. We know at some point we’re going to hit,” Margot said. Overhearing him, Farmer said, “I was screaming no-hitter in the damn dugout!”
Either way, Valdez completed seven innings for the fourth time this season, allowing just two hits and that lone run.
The Twins scored again once Valdez left, with Correa singling home Edouard Julien off Bryan Abreu in the eighth, but a bigger inning was prevented when Christian Vázquez grounded into a double play with two runners on base.
The Houston defense might have prevented another run in the ninth when Buxton smacked a Josh Hader fastball to the center field wall, 409 feet away. Meyers made a leaping catch to prevent extra bases, and Buxton held his helmet high in tribute as he walked back to the dugout.
“We had some opportunities,” Baldelli said. “We just couldn’t get much going.”
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