Hunter Brown Deals, Astros Walk Off Twins 3-2

When Hunter Brown is doing this kind of stuff with his pitches, the opposing lineup will be in for a long day.

There aren’t many starters pitching better than Brown this season across baseball. Maybe two or three, tops? It’s a small number in any case. I have a feeling Brown would be more of a household name as the best starter in the AL if it wasn’t for Tarik Skubal. The Twins found out the hard way why that’s plausible.

There wasn’t much that Minnesota could do against Houston’s pitching staff, with Brown striking out 12 in seven innings of two-run ball, including an impressive 21 whiffs on 45 swings. That curveball, in particular, was devastating with 10 whiffs on 15 swings. Other than a mistake to Brooks Lee, it was a terrific performance from the right-hander. The Twins actually saw the best three pitchers that the Astros have as Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader also joined in on the fun, striking out five of their seven batters faced.

Unlike Friday, when the Astros scored 10 runs on 14 hits, the lineup showed its weakness more readily. Of course, it doesn’t help when Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes are out with injuries, but you get the point. The Astros, with this lineup as is, will have to rely heavily upon its run prevention to win.

But the lineup had enough in them to secure the win. It helped when Yainer Díaz hit his two-run home run in the bottom of the third. While the Twins would eventually come back to tie the game, the pitching staff had a little room to work with. There were four walks, too.

The hero of the lineup, though, was Cam Smith, who drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to walk off the Twins.

It wasn’t the best day for the lineup, yes. But, thankfully the pitching staff kept the game close and the Astros capitalized when it mattered most.

Houston goes for the sweep on Sunday, with Brandon Walter getting the starting nod. Minnesota counters with Sugar Land native Simeon Woods Richardson.

BOX SCORE HERE