Astros 9-1 Twins: José Abreu’s thee-run homer powers Houston into a 2-1 ALDS lead, with Minnesota left on the brink of elimination

José Abreu hit a three-run homer for Houston in a four-run first inning against Sonny Gray and followed it up with a two-run shot in the ninth, propelling the Astros past the Minnesota Twins 9-1 on Tuesday for a 2 -1. lead in their AL Division Series.

Yordan Alvarez hit his fourth homer in three games and Alex Bregman homered and an RBI single for the defending World Series champions, who took control in their first at-bat and moved closer to a victory for a seventh consecutive AL Championship Series appearance. Astros starter Cristian Javier took over with nine strikeouts in five scoreless innings.

Game 4 will take place at Target Field on Wednesday. If the Twins force Game 5, it will be at Houston on Friday.

Javier has been spotty at best this year, with a 4.56 ERA that was by far his worst in four major league seasons. He failed to complete five innings in five of his previous 11 starts.

Manager Dusty Baker has expressed confidence in the 26-year-old since the start of the series, a belief he linked to his long experience of seeing Javier at his best.

José Abreu of the Houston Astros connects for a three-run home run in the first inning

Abreu is greeted at the plate by Kyle Tucker after a three-run homer in the first inning

The right-hander, who pitched six hitless innings in Game 4 of last year’s World Series to beat Philadelphia, lowered his career postseason ERA to 1.91 in 37 2/3 innings.

With 13 misses in 16 hits on Javier’s slider, the Twins struggled in the late afternoon shadows in weak response to the Astros’ early explosion. Javier allowed only one hit, a one-out double by Max Kepler in the first that put two runners in scoring position. Javier responded with consecutive takedowns of Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa.

With five walks and a hit batter, Javier provided the Twins with plenty of opportunities to catch up. They loaded the bases on walks in the fifth inning, but Kepler and Lewis ended the inning with strikeouts.

The Twins left nine men on base and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Correa, who had one hit in all five playoff games and is 9 for 19 with four RBIs, scored on Willi Castro’s one-out single in the sixth. But Jeremy Peña made a diving stop at shortstop on a grounder driven by Ryan Jeffers and jumped to his feet to start a double play.

Jose Altuve greeted Gray with a single, and a one-out bouncer down the first-base line escaped Alex Kirilloff’s glove for a two-base error. Kyle Tucker got the Astros on the board with a single. Then Abreu crushed a 2-1 sweeper into the second deck for a 4-0 lead that took away some of the buzz.

The Twins were blown away by the energy that came from their home crowd during last week’s Wild Card Series deciding game against Toronto, after which manager Rocco Baldelli said the fans “took control of the game.” Splitting the first two games in Houston gave the Twins home-field advantage, and they sold out Target Field three days in advance.

Twins starting pitcher Sonny Gray wipes his face after being relieved in the fifth inning

Astros’ Yordan Alvarez connects for solo home run in ninth inning of Game 3

Johan Santana threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Joe Mauer, two all-time Twins greats who always provoke a roar. Santana took off his jacket to reveal a Pablo López jersey after López, who grew up idolizing his fellow Venezuelan, took the ball to the mound.

The Astros were hardly going to let the environment faze them. They’ve gone 51-30 on the road, the third-best record in baseball, and have made October games a habit since their run began in 2017. Alvarez is 6-for-12 with six runs products in the series. Bregman hit his 16th career postseason home run.

Gray allowed two home runs in a game for the first time in two seasons with the Twins. The last multi-homer game against him took place on September 24, 2021, with Cincinnati.

The eighth major league pitcher since 2000 to throw at least 180 innings with eight or fewer home runs allowed, Gray was the runaway leader for fewest home runs allowed per nine innings this year (.391). He allowed eight hits and one walk in four-plus innings, with five runs – one unearned – and six strikeouts.

The Astros were keeping their plans for a Game 4 starting pitcher private, preferring to see how Game 3 played out before committing. RHP José Urquidy was the most obvious option. He beat the Twins in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series in 2020.

The Twins will send RHP Joe Ryan to the mound on Wednesday for his first career postseason start. He allowed 13 earned runs, nine walks and three home runs in 14 innings with 19 strikeouts in three career starts against the Astros.