The Houston Astros laughed first.
Houston won the first game of the division series against the Minnesota Twins 6-4, held at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, on the 8th (Korean time).
With this win, Houston took the lead by one win. Additionally, since 2017, they have continued their 12-game winning streak in division series games held at their home stadium, Minute Maid Park.
Houston’s starting pitcher, Justin Verlander, took the lead with 4 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts, and no runs in 6 innings.
Verlander wasn’t very sharp on the day, but he got outs whenever he needed to.
He was in danger in the first inning with first and second bases out and no outs, but escaped the crisis by turning Royce Lewis into a double play. In the second inning, he once again prevented a run by catching Michael A. Taylor on a double play with one out and runners on first and second base.
In the third inning, leadoff hitter Eduard Julien was sent out with a double, but third baseman Alex Bregman caught the lead runner when Lewis grounded out to third base with one out and two outs on second base, escaping the crisis.
The batting line responded to his efforts. Jose Altuve hit a leadoff home run in the first inning, and Yordan Alvarez hit a leadoff two-run home run in the third inning.
Altuve hit the first pitch of his first at-bat this postseason, hitting it over the fence. ESPN introduced Altuve’s home run as the first home run in Major League postseason history that hit the first pitch the team faced.토토사이트
Scores were added in the 5th inning as well. With one out, runners on first and second base, two runs were added thanks to consecutive hits by Jose Abreu and Chaz McCormick.
Minnesota’s resistance was also scary. The trend changed after Verlander went down. With 2 outs and 1st and 2nd bases, Jorge Polanco quickly added 3 runs with a three-run home run, and Lewis also hit back-to-back home runs to trail to 5-4.
Houston widened the gap again when Alvarez hit a home run that hit the right foul pole.
The rest survived with the power of the bullpen. Brian Abreu, who relieved Hector Neris, who allowed back-to-back home runs in the 7th inning, allowed doubles to Max Kepler in the 7th and Carlos Correa in the 8th, but left both bases on base.
Closer Ryan Pressley finished the game by dominating Minnesota’s top batting lineup.
Minnesota starter Bailey Ober retired after allowing 4 hits, 2 home runs, 2 strikeouts, and 3 runs in 3 innings. Kenta Maeda, who came on the mound next, also allowed 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, in 2 innings.