Christian Vázquez drove in all three runs for the Twins, including a walk-off home run against Josh Hader, as Minnesota beat the Houston Astros, 3-2, in front of 28,056 at Target Field on Sunday.
Vázquez was facing the Astros’ left-handed closer when he spanked a high fly ball to left that just looped over the wall. It’s Vázquez’s first walk-off hit for Minnesota.
The Twins won 2 of 3 from Houston, which entered the series having won 13 of 15 games, and improved to a season-high 12 games over .500.
Simeon Woods Richardson gave the Twins a quality start, allowing two runs on three hits and a pair of walks. Jhoan Duran (4-3) earned the victory after pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Woods Richardson struggled early, giving up two runs on a hit, two walks and a sacrifice fly in the second.
Jon Singleton singled to left to start the inning and moved to third on consecutive walks before No. 9 hitter Cesar Salazar hit a fly ball to left in foul territory, which was caught by Matt Waller but allowed Singleton to score. Jose Altuve then singled to left to score Jake Meyers and make it 2-0.
But Woods Richardson settled down, throwing four 1-2-3 innings the rest of the way.
The Twins, meanwhile, manufactured a couple of runs to tie the game. Byron Buxton reached on a one-out single in the second, moved to second on Matt Wallner’s walk and scored on a soft single to left by Vázquez to cut Houston’s lead in half.
In the fourth, Brooks Lee opened with a single — initially an error charged to Altuve — and moved to third on Wallner’s hard single to right field. Vázquez then grounded to third, reaching on a fielder’s choice when Altuve — who forced out Wallner at second — threw home to try and cut down Lee.
Lee was safe, tying the game 2-2, but Vázquez was thrown out 1-3 after rounding first for the second out. Willi Castro singled and Trevor Larnach walked, but Kyle Farmer struck out.
Farmer entered the game as a replacement for Carlos Correa, who was hit in the right hand by Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti in the first inning. Correa was diagnosed with a contusion on one of his fingers. Twins said initial scans were negative.
Jose Miranda, who tied a major league record with a hit in 12 straight at-bats on Saturday, pinch hit for Farmer in the seventh and singled to left on the first pitch he saw. He was then cut down trying to steal second.
The Twins had a golden opportunity to plate the go-ahead run in the eighth after Kepler drew a leadoff walk and Byron Buxton reached on a swinging bunt. But Lee, who extended his hitting streak to five games to start his major league career, hit into a 6-4-3 double play and Kepler was stranded at third when Manny Margot grounded out to short.