Astros Pound Twins In First Game Of DH, 15-7
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Major league batting leader Jose Altuve got four hits, drove in three runs and scored three, sending the Houston Astros past the Minnesota Twins 15-7 Thursday in the first game of a split doubleheader.
The doubleheader was caused by a rainout Wednesday night in a game Minnesota led 5-0 in the third inning.
Altuve has eight hits in his last nine at-bats, raising his average to .366. He is hitting .438 on the road.
Carlos Correa homered as Houston got a season-high 19 hits and won for just the fifth time in 16 games. Marwin Gonzalez tied a career high with four hits.
Kennys Vargas homered from each side of the plate for Minnesota.
Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar relieved Taylor Rogers in a three-run ninth inning and, after giving up a single, recorded three straight outs.
Doug Fister (11-7) threw seven-plus innings, allowing eight hits and five earned runs.
Jose Berrios (2-3) was ineffective for the third straight start, lasting just two innings and giving up six runs and eight hits. Since his Aug. 1 recall from Triple-A, he's allowed 12 earned runs in 13 innings.
In seven starts this season, the righty has a 9.32 ERA over 28 innings, permitting 39 hits and 14 walks.
Altuve hit an RBI double off the wall in right-center in the first inning and dashed for third base on the throw home. Catcher Juan Centeno's throw to third sailed down the left-field line, allowing Altuve to trot home.
Four straight hits with two outs in the second made it 6-0. George Springer hit a two-run double, Alex Bregman had an RBI double and Altuve singled home a run.
Correa hit his 17th homer, a three-run drive off Buddy Boshers as part of a six-run fifth inning.
Vargas snapped an 0-for-12 skid with a second-inning home run. He became the fourth player in team history to homer as both a left- and right-handed hitter in the same game with a two-run shot in the eighth off Tony Sipp.
DOUBLING UP
This was Houston's 255th all-time doubleheader, but first against an American League team. The Astros were in the National League from 1962-2012.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: RHP Trevor May, put on the disabled list Wednesday with a lower back strain, was scheduled to see a specialist.
UP NEXT
Houston's Chris Devenski (0-4, 2.51) and Minnesota's Tommy Milone (3-3, 5.23) will each come out of the bullpen to start the nightcap.
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