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.
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.
