Jose Altuve delivered a go-ahead single in the top of the 10th inning, and the Houston Astros rallied for a 9-7 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs for Houston, which stormed back from a 7-1 deficit and scored the final eight runs of the game. Isaac Paredes went 4-for-6 with a pair of RBIs as the Astros won the rubber match of the three-game series.
Trevor Larnach doubled and drove in three runs to lead Minnesota. Ryan Jeffers doubled and drove in two, and Matt Wallner finished 4-for-5 and scored a pair of runs.
Astros left-hander Josh Hader (1-0) pitched two of scoreless relief to earn the victory. He struck out Christian Vazquez to end a 1-2-3 inning and stranded a designated runner on second base in the bottom of the 10th.
Twins right-hander Louis Varland (1-1) took the loss after giving up two runs (one earned) in one inning of relief. He was one of seven relief pitchers to follow starter Chris Paddack, who allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in four innings.
The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the first on a sacrifice fly by Alvarez.
Minnesota answered with three runs in the bottom of the first to pull ahead. Larnach hit a sacrifice fly and Jeffers followed with a two-run double.
Carlos Correa increased the Twins’ lead to 4-1 with an RBI single in the second.
Minnesota scored three more runs in the fourth to build a 7-1 advantage. Byron Buxton struck first with an RBI double, and Larnach delivered moments later with a two-run double.
The Astros started their comeback in the fifth. Zach Dezenzo scored on an error, Paredes ripped an RBI single and Jeremy Pena hit a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 7-4.
Paredes struck again with an RBI single in the sixth to pull Houston within 7-5.
The score stayed that way until the top of the ninth, when Paredes led off with a single and Alvarez followed with a game-tying, two-run blast to right-center field.
Altuve put Houston on top for good with an RBI single to left in the 10th. Jake Meyers swiped home on a double-steal to give the Astros an insurance run.
