HOUSTON — Justin Verlander pitched six shutout innings, Yordan Alvarez homered twice and the Houston Astros held on for a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins of their AL Division Series opener Saturday.
Jose Altuve hit a leadoff home run and Alvarez had three RBIs because the defending World Series champions earned their tenth straight victory in Game 1 of a Division Series.
Former Astros star Carlos Correa had two hits for the Twins, who continued to struggle on the plate with runners in scoring position.
They were 1 for 12 after going 1 for 10 within the Wild Card Series against Toronto.
Verlander, whom the Mets traded to the Astros before the trade deadline, settled in after a shaky start and the Astros built a 5-0 lead through six innings with big swings from Altuve and Alvarez.
Héctor Neris took over for Verlander to start out the seventh. With two outs, Jorge Polanco hit a soaring three-run homer to right field.
Two pitches later, rookie Royce Lewis launched his third homer in three playoff games to make it 5-4.
In the underside half, Caleb Thielbar entered to face Alvarez with one out.
The slugger became the primary left-handed hitter to homer off Thielbar this season when he smacked an off-speed pitch off the foul pole in right to present Houston an insurance run.
Bryan Abreu got 4 outs for the Astros, striking out three, and Ryan Pressly fanned two in a scoreless ninth for the save. He struck out Lewis to finish it.
The most effective-of-five series continues Sunday night in Houston, with Framber Valdez on the mound for the AL West champion Astros against Pablo López.
Altuve pounced on Bailey Ober’s first pitch for his first profession leadoff homer within the playoffs.
Alvarez connected off Ober on a two-run shot within the third to make it 3-0.
The 40-year-old Verlander allowed 4 hits and walked three to get his seventeenth win in 35 postseason starts.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner returned to the Astros this summer in a trade with the Latest York Mets.
Altuve, who was 0 for 23 to open the playoffs last season, has 24 profession postseason homers, which ranks second in major league history to Manny Ramirez (29).
Saturday was Altuve’s eighth home run in the primary inning of a playoff game, probably the most in MLB history.
Ober allowed 4 hits and three runs over three innings in his playoff debut for the AL Central champion Twins, who accomplished a two-game sweep of Toronto within the wild-card round to win a playoff series for the primary time in 21 years.
The Twins had possibilities early but were unable to push any runs across against Verlander.
Minnesota had runners on first and second with no outs in the primary.
Lewis grounded right into a double play before Verlander walked Max Kepler. Alex Kirilloff grounded out to finish the threat.
Correa singled to start out the second before a one-out single by Ryan Jeffers.
This time Verlander escaped the jam when Michael A. Taylor grounded right into a double play.
Edouard Julien doubled with no outs within the third, however the Twins didn’t get one other hit until a single by Jeffers with no outs within the seventh.
There was one out within the third when Ober plunked Alex Bregman.
Two pitches later, Alvarez knocked a changeup 379 feet into the seats in right field to make it 3-0.
It was the seventh profession postseason homer for the 26-year-old. He watched the ball sail for a few seconds before trotting to first base as he casually flipped his bat.
José Abreu’s RBI single made it 4-0 within the fifth. Chas McCormick singled with two outs to send one other run home, but Abreu was out at third on the play to finish the inning.
HOUSTON — Justin Verlander pitched six shutout innings, Yordan Alvarez homered twice and the Houston Astros held on for a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins of their AL Division Series opener Saturday.
Jose Altuve hit a leadoff home run and Alvarez had three RBIs because the defending World Series champions earned their tenth straight victory in Game 1 of a Division Series.
Former Astros star Carlos Correa had two hits for the Twins, who continued to struggle on the plate with runners in scoring position.
They were 1 for 12 after going 1 for 10 within the Wild Card Series against Toronto.
Verlander, whom the Mets traded to the Astros before the trade deadline, settled in after a shaky start and the Astros built a 5-0 lead through six innings with big swings from Altuve and Alvarez.
Héctor Neris took over for Verlander to start out the seventh. With two outs, Jorge Polanco hit a soaring three-run homer to right field.
Two pitches later, rookie Royce Lewis launched his third homer in three playoff games to make it 5-4.
In the underside half, Caleb Thielbar entered to face Alvarez with one out.
The slugger became the primary left-handed hitter to homer off Thielbar this season when he smacked an off-speed pitch off the foul pole in right to present Houston an insurance run.
Bryan Abreu got 4 outs for the Astros, striking out three, and Ryan Pressly fanned two in a scoreless ninth for the save. He struck out Lewis to finish it.
The most effective-of-five series continues Sunday night in Houston, with Framber Valdez on the mound for the AL West champion Astros against Pablo López.
Altuve pounced on Bailey Ober’s first pitch for his first profession leadoff homer within the playoffs.
Alvarez connected off Ober on a two-run shot within the third to make it 3-0.
The 40-year-old Verlander allowed 4 hits and walked three to get his seventeenth win in 35 postseason starts.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner returned to the Astros this summer in a trade with the Latest York Mets.
Altuve, who was 0 for 23 to open the playoffs last season, has 24 profession postseason homers, which ranks second in major league history to Manny Ramirez (29).
Saturday was Altuve’s eighth home run in the primary inning of a playoff game, probably the most in MLB history.
Ober allowed 4 hits and three runs over three innings in his playoff debut for the AL Central champion Twins, who accomplished a two-game sweep of Toronto within the wild-card round to win a playoff series for the primary time in 21 years.
The Twins had possibilities early but were unable to push any runs across against Verlander.
Minnesota had runners on first and second with no outs in the primary.
Lewis grounded right into a double play before Verlander walked Max Kepler. Alex Kirilloff grounded out to finish the threat.
Correa singled to start out the second before a one-out single by Ryan Jeffers.
This time Verlander escaped the jam when Michael A. Taylor grounded right into a double play.
Edouard Julien doubled with no outs within the third, however the Twins didn’t get one other hit until a single by Jeffers with no outs within the seventh.
There was one out within the third when Ober plunked Alex Bregman.
Two pitches later, Alvarez knocked a changeup 379 feet into the seats in right field to make it 3-0.
It was the seventh profession postseason homer for the 26-year-old. He watched the ball sail for a few seconds before trotting to first base as he casually flipped his bat.
José Abreu’s RBI single made it 4-0 within the fifth. Chas McCormick singled with two outs to send one other run home, but Abreu was out at third on the play to finish the inning.
