Justin Verlander pitched six shutout innings, Yordan Alvarez homered twice and the host Astros beat the Twins 6-4 in their AL Division Series opener.
Justin Verlander pitched six shutout innings, Yordan Alvarez homered twice and the Houston Astros held on for a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins in their AL Division Series opener Saturday.
Jose Altuve hit a leadoff home run and Alvarez had three RBIs as the defending World Series champions earned their 10th straight victory in Game 1 of a Division Series.
Former Astros star Carlos Correa had two hits for the Twins, who continued to struggle at the plate with runners in scoring position.
They were 1 for 12 after going 1 for 10 in the Wild Card Series against Toronto.
Verlander, whom the Mets traded to the Astros before the trade deadline, settled in after a shaky start and the Astros built a 5-0 lead through six innings with big swings from Altuve and Alvarez.
Héctor Neris took over for Verlander to start the seventh. With two outs, Jorge Polanco hit a soaring three-run homer to right field.
Two pitches later, rookie Royce Lewis launched his third homer in three playoff games to make it 5-4.
In the bottom half, Caleb Thielbar entered to face Alvarez with one out.
