Astros at Twins
The Houston Astros look to make it two straight stellar offensive outings when they visit the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday for the third contest of their four-game series. Houston scored just 12 runs in a five-game span before breaking out with seven extra-base hits in Tuesday's 11-0 shellacking of the Twins.
George Springer, Jake Marisnick and Alex Bregman each homered on Tuesday as the Astros won for just the fifth time in 11 contests. Josh Reddick and Michael Brantley each recorded three of the team's 15 hits, with the latter registering his seventh multi-hit performance in 11 contests. Minnesota notched only three hits on Tuesday - two by Max Kepler - as its four-game winning streak came to an end. Eddie Rosario, who leads the American League with 11 homers, has gone 0-for-14 during his four-game funk.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, ESPN, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Collin McHugh (3-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. Twins LH Martin Perez (3-0, 4.44)
McHugh registered nine strikeouts for the third time this season but gave up three runs and four hits over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against Cleveland in his last start. The 31-year-old has allowed 12 earned runs in his last two turns after giving up a total of five over his first four outings. McHugh is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA in seven career appearances (five starts) against the Twins.
Perez is coming off back-to-back victories over Baltimore in which he issued just one walk over 12 innings. The 28-year-old has allowed just one run in two of his three starts this season, including a six-inning effort against Toronto on April 15. Perez is 6-4 with a 3.00 ERA in 11 career starts versus Houston and has struggled against Jose Altuve (11-for-34, six doubles).
WALK-OFFS
1. Astros SS Carlos Correa went 2-for-3 with three RBIs on Tuesday to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
2. Minnesota CF Byron Buxton is 1-for-13 with six strikeouts over his last five contests.
3. Houston INF prospect J.J. Matijevic, who is playing at Double-A Corpus Christi, was suspended 50 games without pay due to a second positive test for a drug of abuse.