In the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game, Houston Astros starter Cristian Javier struck Max Kepler out looking with one out and the bases loaded. Royce Lewis emerged from the dugout with five career grand slams and three postseason* home runs to his name. Willi Castro had led the inning off with a walk. Edouard Julien and Jorge Polanco also took one-out walks, setting Lewis up for another set of playoff heroics.
He struck out on Javier’s fourth offering, a slider low and outside. “[Javier] mixed and matched very well,” said Carlos Correa. “He didn’t stick to any patterns, and it was very unpredictable. His fastball [is] the type of fastball that you either cheat to get to it or you don’t. And if you don’t cheat and you get it, you will foul it off. And if you cheat, and you get an off-speed, you’re gonna chase.”
Lewis cheated and chased.
“Kind of like what Carlos was saying, tough to see with the shadows for both sides,” said Lewis, referencing Target Field’s weird shadows for 3:00 pm games. “Maybe [Houston catcher Martín] Maldonado caught on to that and started calling a little bit more slider there. … You’ve either got to be prepared on the fastball, or you’ve got to be around the slider. He did a good job of sequencing and not keeping the pattern.”
If the New York Yankees are the Cadillac of baseball, the Houston Astros are a Porsche. The Yankees may be a recognized luxury brand, but Astros management used analytics to engineer their team with German precision. The Minnesota Twins may have taken Game 2 in Houston, but the Astros immediately stepped on it in Game 3. And boy, does that engine have horsepower. The Twins started the first inning down 4-0 and lost 9-1.
Jose Altuve led things off with a single. Yordan Alvarez reached on Alex Kirilloff’s error, Kyle Tucker drove in Altuve, and José Abreu knocked the rest in with a home run. “With the exception of hanging…breaking ball for the homer to Abreu,” said Sonny Gray, “I thought I made quality pitches (in the first inning).”
Alvarez is Houston’s octane booster. He went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a home run. Javier gave up one hit in five innings, and Houston’s bullpen only gave up two hits and one run. The Twins had opportunities. They left as many players on base (9) as the Astros did, but Minnesota had 11 fewer hits.
“We had plenty of opportunity. We really did,” said Rocco Baldelli. “There was a theme in those at-bats. We expanded a little bit in those at-bats. We’d get in a good spot — again, great where you want to be to make something happen. We didn’t make it happen when the time came.”
- Polanco drew a walk in the first inning, and Kepler’s double put men on second and third with one out. But Lewis and Correa struck out to end the inning.
- Javier hit Jeffers to lead off the third inning, and Julien drew a walk. But Polanco struck out, and Kepler and Lewis flew out.
- Castro, Julien, and Polanco drew walks in the fifth. But Kepler struck out looking, and Lewis chased Javier’s slider.
- Minnesota’s final opportunity came in the sixth. Correa hit a leadoff single, and Matt Wallner drew a walk. Castro drove Correa in, but Jeffers grounded into a double play.
“I hit it really well,” said Jeffers, referring to the double-play. “I’d like to not hit it on the ground. But it’s not like I hit a true ground ball, either. It’s probably a two-hopper at [Jeremy Peńa]. He made a helluva play. He’s got gold on his glove for a reason. It stinks, but he made a good play.”
Houston was 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position; the Twins were 1-for-9. Royce Lewis left seven players on base. Max Kepler, five. Ryan Jeffers, four. “There were a lot of situations that I had that I left people on base,” Lewis acknowledged. “That’s on me. It’s upsetting. I’m very self-aware of that stuff mid-game, obviously. It just didn’t happen today. We’re going to go get them tomorrow.”
Emotions ran high and low in the dugout as the Twins mounted a threat, only to watch it dissipate. The coaches tried to be stoic and calm the players, but everyone felt the weight of missed opportunities. Minnesota constantly pressed the clutch and moved to a higher gear, only to have the gears jam once they got cruising, causing whiplash and nausea.
ESPN gave Houston an 82.5% chance to win the game after the first inning. They got into high gear and got off to an early lead. The Twins had to drive in runs with men on base to come back and win. Instead, they got stuck changing gears and blew out the motor. Ultimately, we will learn whether there was an issue with Minnesota’s transmission or if its engine doesn’t have the horsepower to keep up with Houston’s analytics machine.
*An earlier version of this post shorted Lewis by one postseason home run. We regret the error.
