Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros Match Player Stats On Jul 15, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 15, 2017

HOUSTON -- Eddie Rosario turned a fortuitous bounce into a two-run double and the Minnesota Twins squeezed out a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning, Rosario bounced a chopper off the extended glove of Astros left-hander Tony Sipp. The deflected ball squirted past second baseman Jose Altuve, who was sliding in position to field the grounder.

Miguel Sano and Max Kepler scored as the ball trickled past Altuve and into shallow right field.

The Twins (46-44) held on from there, first with starter Ervin Santana (11-6) continuing his effective work against the Astros (61-30). Relievers Tyler Duffey and Taylor Rogers bridged the gap to All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler, who notched his 25th save with a scoreless ninth.

The Astros stranded 11 runners and finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. They taxed Santana early and loaded the bases against Duffey with two outs in the seventh, but Rogers induced an inning-ending ground ball to smother the final threat.

Brian Dozier cranked a leadoff home run for a second consecutive game for the Twins.

Altuve hit his 14th homer in support of Astros right-hander Joe Musgrove (4-8), who allowed four runs, eight hits and two walks with five strikeouts in five-plus innings.

Santana proved elusive despite the Astros' best efforts to knock him out early. He surrendered a run-scoring double to Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel in the second but made sure Houston didn't cash in on two additional baserunners later in the inning.

Santana surrendered a leadoff homer to Altuve in the third but buckled down when the Astros loaded the bases in the fourth, getting Altuve to ground out to end the threat.

NOTES: The Twins placed CF Byron Buxton on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain. Buxton sustained the injury on Friday night when he slipped rounding second base en route to scoring on a bases-clearing double by 2B Brian Dozier in the fourth inning. In a corresponding move, the Twins reinstated 1B Joe Mauer from the disabled list after Mauer missed six games with a lower back strain. ... Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel will make the first of what will likely be multiple rehab starts on Monday with Double-A Corpus Christi. Keuchel is scheduled to throw two innings. He landed on the 10-day disabled list on June 5 with a neck strain. ... Twins RHP Bartolo Colon will make his first start with the club on Tuesday against the New York Yankees. Colon signed with the Twins on July 7 after being released by the Atlanta Braves three days earlier.