Houston vs. Minnesota
This was the second postseason meeting between Houston and Minnesota, following the
2020 American League Wild Card Series matchup, which Houston won in a two-game sweep.
Game 1 hit two home runs in Game 1. Game 1 provided a unique pitching matchup with
Bailey Ober making his first career postseason start for the Twins, opposite of
Justin Verlander making his 35th career postseason start, tied for second-most all time. In the bottom of the first inning,
Jose Altuve homered off Ober on the first pitch to give the Astros a 1–0 lead, his Major League record eighth career leadoff home run in the postseason and 24th overall. In the third inning,
Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run home run off Ober to extend the Astros' lead to 3–0. In the fifth,
José Abreu singled to score
Alex Bregman to extend the Astros' lead to 4–0.
Chas McCormick also singled to score Yordan Alvarez to extend the Astros lead to 5–0. Verlander threw six shutout innings to post the sixth scoreless start of his postseason career, tying
Madison Bumgarner and
Tom Glavine for the most all-time. In the top of the seventh,
Jorge Polanco hit a three-run home run off
Hector Neris, followed shortly by a solo shot by
Royce Lewis to narrow the Twins deficit to 5–4. Later, in the bottom of the inning, Alvarez hit his second home run of the game off of
Caleb Thielbar to extend the Astros lead to 6–4.
Bryan Abreu and
Ryan Pressly combined for 2 scoreless innings to end the game and give the Astros their 12th straight ALDS win at home.
Game 2 , pictured with the Houston Astros, drives in three runs, including a two-run single in Game 2. In the top of the first inning,
Carlos Correa doubled, scoring
Jorge Polanco to give the Twins the first run of the game. In the top of the second,
Kyle Farmer hit a two-run homer off
Framber Valdez, extending the lead to 3–0. Correa plated two more runs in the fifth with a single, allowing
Michael A. Taylor and
Donovan Solano to score, extending the lead to 5–0. In the seventh,
Edouard Julien singled to drive in
Royce Lewis to give the Twins a 6–0 cushion. In the bottom of the eighth inning,
Yordan Alvarez hit his third home run of the series off
Brock Stewart to give the Astros their only runs of the game.
Jhoan Durán closed out the victory for the Twins for their first victory in an ALDS game since Game 1 of the
2004 American League Division Series. The Astros saw their 12-game home winning streak in the ALDS snapped as this was also their first loss in a Game 2 of the LDS since 2015.
Game 3 , pictured with the Chicago White Sox, hit two home runs in Game 3.
Sonny Gray took the mound for the Twins while the Astros countered with
Cristian Javier. The Astros struck early off Gray, putting up four runs in the top of the first, punctuated by a
José Abreu three-run homer.
Alex Bregman added to the lead in the fifth inning with a solo shot, marking the first time since September 24, 2021 that Gray had given up multiple home runs in a game. After the next two batters reached base, he was taken out of the game, having given up four earned runs with six strikeouts in four innings of work. Javier threw five scoreless innings, striking out nine and walking five, marking his third straight scoreless postseason start. Bregman struck again in the sixth with an RBI single, but the Twins answered back in the bottom of the inning, with a
Willi Castro RBI single off
Hunter Brown to score
Carlos Correa.
Jeremy Peña made a crucial diving stop to turn an inning-ending double play and keep the game at 6–1. The Astros closed the scoring in the ninth inning with home runs by
Yordan Alvarez (his fourth of the series) and Abreu, his second of the game, capping a 9–1 victory and putting the Astros one game away from their seventh straight
ALCS. Alvarez was 6-for-12 with six RBI and 20 total bases in the first three LDS games. Per OptaSTATs, Alvarez joined
Reggie Jackson as the only players in history to hit at least four home runs and six extra-base hits within a three-game span of a postseason.
Game 4 , pictured here with the
Minnesota Twins, struck out the side in the ninth for the save in Game 4. The Astros tabbed
José Urquidy with starting Game 4 while
Joe Ryan was tasked to try and extend the Twins season and send the game back to Houston.
Royce Lewis started the Twins' scoring with a solo shot in the first. The home run was his fourth of the postseason, tying
Kirby Puckett for most home runs in a single Twins postseason. The Astros answered back in the bottom of the frame with a
Michael Brantley solo home run to tie it.
José Abreu broke the tie in the fourth with a two-run homer off of
Caleb Thielbar, his third of the series.
Edouard Julien shortened the gap in the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot to bring the Twins within one, but
Hector Neris struck out
Max Kepler to end the threat. Urquidy threw 5 innings, striking out six while giving up two runs over three hits.
Ryan Pressly shut the door on the Twins, striking out the side for his second save to preserve the Astros' 3–2 victory and win the series. For the Astros, it was their American League record seventh consecutive ALCS while the Twins lost their seventh straight ALDS.
Composite line score 2023
ALDS (3–1):
Houston Astros beat
Minnesota Twins ==See also==