MINNEAPOLIS — The thunderstorm that prematurely ended Wednesday's game had moved on by Thursday. Unfortunately for the Twins, the Astros' thunder and lightning had not.
Houston completed the victory it started the day before by tacking on six more runs for an 11-3 victory, then completed the three-game sweep of the Twins by shutting them out in the regularly scheduled game. The 5-0 finale means the Astros outscored the Twins 21-3 during their three-day stay, and, starting with Justin Verlander's no-hit flirtation Tuesday, it never felt that close.
Josh Winder, who didn't give up an earned run in his first two major-league starts against the Rays and A's, found the Astros lineup much tougher. The righthander surrendered six hits and four runs, including a two-run blast over the center field fence by Yordan Alvarez, while lasting only 3⅓ innings. The bullpen shut out the Astros until the ninth, when Alvarez added a solo homer into the bullpen off another rookie, Cole Sands, but the Twins had no firepower to challenge them.
Over 15 innings Thursday, the Twins, who entered the series on a 14-3 hot streak, went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position, both of the hits coming in the lopsided first game. They struck out 19 times and extended their homer-less streak to 37 consecutive innings.
Luis Garcia struck out a career-high nine in the second game, and never allowed a runner to reach third base in his five innings.
Wednesday night's game resumed where it was suspended more than 16 hours earlier, with Houston leading 5-1 in the fourth inning, and the Astros resumed battering Twins pitching. Rookie Yennier Cano retired the first six hitters of his major league career, but things changed in the sixth inning, when Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker lifted a fly ball through the wind and into the right-field seats.
Cano gave up two more hits before being lifted for righthander Cody Stashak, who surrendered three consecutive RBI doubles and a single, giving Houston six consecutive hits and firm control of the game.
Stashak, however, eased the bullpen's workload on a day with 15 innings scheduled, retiring the Astros without a run in the seventh and eighth innings. Utility man Nick Gordon, son of three-time All-Star pitcher Tom Gordon, became the first position player to take the mound for the Twins this season. He left to a loud ovation after pitching a shutout ninth.
The Twins added a pair of runs, one driven in and one scored by rookie outfielder Mark Contreras, who made his major league debut by giving Byron Buxton the remainder of the first game off after he played Wednesday night.
