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Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa both finished a triple short of
hitting for the cycle, Jason Castro continued to provide
production from the bottom of the batting order, and the Astros
claimed the rubber game of a three-game series with the
Minnesota Twins, winning 16-4 at Minute Maid Park.
The Astros (10-18) won consecutive games for the first time this
season behind an unrelenting offensive attack. Altuve, the
leadoff man, and Correa, who hit third in the order, each
finished 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs.
Sandwiched in between Altuve and Correa, George Springer went
1-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs. Castro, the No. 9 batter,
extended his hitting streak to six games, going 2-for-3 with a
homer, two walks, three runs and four RBIs.
"This was a nice outburst for our team," Astros manager A.J.
Hinch said. "This is a fun lineup when we get going like this. I
was so proud of our guys for not conceding any at-bats tonight,
and even as the game got underway, we kept coming back at them.
"I thought our guys really hung in there and did a good job of
competing at the plate. Just a really good night across the
board. I think everybody contributed in some capacity, so it was
a good night."
The Twins (8-20) fell to 2-12 on the road with right-hander Phil
Hughes earning an early shower. Hughes (1-5) surrendered six
runs on six hits and two walks while lasting just two innings.
"I've had a lot of bad games in my career, a lot of bad starts,
and in those situations where you don't even give your guys a
chance out of the gate, you at least want to eat some innings
for the bullpen," Hughes said. "I couldn't do that tonight."
In producing a season-high run total, the Astros posted eight
extra-base hits and seven walks.
"It's disappointing like a lot of our series have been," Twins
manager Paul Molitor said. "You win the first game, and then you
go back-to-back games getting (14 total) outs out of your
starter. It puts a lot of stress on our bullpen."
Altuve began the onslaught in his first plate appearance by
socking his fifth leadoff home run this season. Springer walked,
and Correa followed with an RBI double to left. Colby Rasmus
added a run-scoring groundout.
Houston matched its three-run first inning in the second.
Springer hit a two-run double to center in advance of Rasmus'
RBI single.
Hughes wasn't around when Castro smacked a two-run,
opposite-field homer off Twins right-hander Casey Fien in the
third. Correa added the second homer off Fien an inning later,
his solo shot to right marking his fourth on the year and first
since the opening series against the Yankees.
Astros right-hander Mike Fiers struggled despite the run
support. He surrendered a three-run home run to Twins second
baseman Brian Dozier in the third inning and a run-scoring
groundout to Danny Santana in the fourth. With the Astros
leading 9-4, Fiers walked Byung Ho Park with two outs in the
fifth, prompting an early exit.
The Astros kept on slugging, though, making a winner out of
reliever Scott Feldman (1-2) and building some momentum with the
American League West-leading Seattle Mariners arriving in town
for a four-game series.
"It's nice to rattle off a couple of wins early in the first
series of a 10-game homestand here," Castro said. "Now we just
look to carry that momentum. It will be good moving forward to
have a couple of wins under our belt moving into the rest of the
homestand."
NOTES: Astros manager A.J. Hinch announced that LF Colby Rasmus
would be out of the lineup Thursday night for the opener of the
series against the Mariners. Rasmus, the American League Player
of the Week for April 18-24, entered the series finale against
the Twins in an 0-for-11 skid, but he went 1-for-4 with a walk
and two RBIs on Wednesday. ... With RHP Ervin Santana (lower
back strain) set to rejoin the Minnesota rotation after a stint
on the 15-day disabled list, manager Paul Molitor announced his
rotation for the weekend series against the White Sox. Santana
(0-1, 3.15 ERA) will start the middle game Saturday, flanked by
RHP Ricky Nolasco on Friday night and RHP Tyler Duffy in the
series finale on Sunday. ... Astros RHP Collin McHugh picked up
his 33rd victory in the last three seasons on Tuesday. Since
Aug. 1, 2014, McHugh is 29-10 and ranks second only to Cubs RHP
Jake Arrieta (32-9) in wins during that span.
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