Miranda homers, drives in tiebreaking run to give Twins 4-3 win over Astros
Jose Miranda hit a solo homer in the sixth inning and a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth, helping the Minnesota Twins top the Houston Astros 4-3 on Sunday.
"He's really done so many different things in the lineup for us," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He just plays. He doesn't get distracted, he doesn't get caught up in any anything. He's just ready to play baseball and he's done a nice job."
Trevor Larnach also went deep for Minnesota, which took two of three in the weekend series. Steven Okert (2-0) got two outs for the win, and Jhoan Duran handled the ninth for his 10th save.
Miranda's sixth homer of the season — a one-out drive to left-center off Hunter Brown — tied it at 3.
Larnach reached on a leadoff walk in the eighth against Ryan Pressly (0-3). Pinch-runner Manuel Margot moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Jeffers and scored on Miranda's grounder down the third base line.
Larnach got Minnesota an early lead when he homered on Brown's fourth pitch of the game. The leadoff drive was Larnach's sixth homer this season.
Alex Bregman and Victor Caratini went deep for Houston, which lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Bregman's fourth homer in five games — a two-run shot in the third — gave the Astros a 3-2 lead.
Houston had a shot to take the lead in the seventh. José Abreu walked with one out before a bunt single by Chas McCormick chased Jorge Alcalá.
He was replaced by Okert, and Bregman singled on a grounder to left with two down. But the Astros came up empty when Yordan Alvarez flied out.
Brown struck out seven in six innings. He permitted three runs and five hits.
"Hunter did a phenomenal job," manager Joe Espada said. "He was really, really good, gave us a chance to win. We just couldn't do enough to pull off that win."
Minnesota's Simeon Woods Richardson, who grew up in suburban Houston, allowed three hits and three runs with six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He allowed two homers Sunday after giving up just two in his previous eight starts this season.
The right-hander said it was a dream come true to pitch in a ballpark where he watched so many games growing up as an Astros fan. He also said he had too many friends and family at the game to count.
"But once we step on the field, it's competitive nature and I can flip the switch easy," he said. "It's one thing watching, being a fan, but once you're competing it's a different ballgame."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: 3B Royce Lewis (severe quadriceps strain) is scheduled to complete a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A St. Paul on Sunday and should come off the injured list Tuesday. Lewis, who has been out since he was injured on opening day, has been with St. Paul since May 25.
UP NEXT
Twins: RHP Bailey Ober (5-3, 4.89 ERA) starts the opener of a series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
Astros: RHP Justin Verlander (3-2, 3.26 ERA) opposes St. Louis RHP Kyle Gibson (4-2, 3.60 ERA) in the first of three games with the Cardinals on Monday night.
