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 George Springer reached base in his first three plate appearances
and the Houston Astros followed by relying on their bullpen to close
out a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night at Minute
Maid Park.
Springer finished 1-for-2 with two runs, two walks and two RBIs to
pace an offense that made the most of its five hits. Center fielder
Carlos Gomez, making his return after missing three games with rib
soreness, was the lone starter to record a multi-hit game, recording
two doubles.
"We've been able to not quit and at least stay in games and come
back in some," Springer said. "That's a good sign. Obviously, stuff
hasn't been ideal for us, but it's a long year. Slow grind."
Astros relievers Ken Giles, Pat Neshek, Will Harris and Luke
Gregerson preserved the win for right-hander Collin McHugh (3-3),
who allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks with six
strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Gregerson earned his sixth save by
retiring the side in order in the ninth inning.
 The Twins (8-19) managed just one base runner against the Houston
(9-18) bullpen, with second baseman Brian Dozier reaching on a
fielding error by shortstop Carlos Correa to open the eighth inning.
Springer was the catalyst from his initial plate appearance, drawing
the first of his consecutive walks. When he reached with no outs in
the third inning, Astros catcher Jason Castro had already cut the
deficit to 2-1 with his leadoff home run off Twins right-hander Alex
Meyer (0-1).
Springer followed a walk to Jose Altuve and advanced to third when
Carlos Correa roped a single to left that scored Altuve and tied the
game at 2-2. Springer scored the go-ahead run when Meyer uncorked a
wild pitch before departing his first career start with two outs in
the third.
"The biggest thing was just not being able to locate my breaking
ball in that third inning," Meyer said. "That just opened things up
for them."
When Springer strolled to the plate with two outs in the fourth, the
Astros had extended their lead to 4-2. He added to that advantage
with a mammoth two-run shot to left off Twins left-hander Tommy
Milone. That blast, his sixth, cleared the train tracks above the
Crawford Boxes and plated Castro, who walked and advanced via a balk
and a wild pitch.
McHugh departed with a lead despite giving up a pair of homers.
Danny Santana stroked a leadoff shot off the right-field foul pole
in the first inning, his first on the season, and Byung Ho Park
chased McHugh with his opposite-field shot to right with two outs in
the sixth inning.
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"We got off to a good start, but we didn't capitalize in that first
inning and only got one," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We did
some good things but missed some chances."
In between, McHugh proved resilient. Joe Mauer delivered an RBI
groundout in the third inning and Brian Dozier added a run-scoring
single in the fifth, but McHugh retired the Twins in order in the
second and fourth innings, effectively stifling their ability to
build momentum.
"As a starter, you want to go out there and throw zeroes," McHugh
said. "You want to put zeroes on the board for as many pitches as
you can. If you can't put up zeroes, you want to limit it to one.
You don't want to give us crooked numbers because those tend to lose
games."
NOTES: Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe was reinstated from the 15-day
disabled list and the club optioned IF Jorge Polanco to Triple-A
Rochester. Plouffe missed 14 games with a right intercostal strain
and played two games with Class A Ft. Myers on his rehab assignment.
In the six games before his DL stint, Plouffe batted .435
(10-for-23) with four doubles, one home run and five RBIs. ...
Astros C Max Stassi joined Triple-A Fresno to begin his rehab
assignment after surgery for a left wrist hamate fracture. Stassi
was placed on the 15-day disabled list March 29. He will catch RHP
Lance McCullers on Saturday in El Paso in what will be McCullers'
first rehab start (right shoulder soreness). ... According to Elias,
RHP Jose Berrios, at 21 years, 341 days old, became the youngest
Twins pitcher to win a road start since Pat Mahomes on May 19, 1992,
in Toronto at 21 years and 284 days.
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