Kenta Maeda allowed a run over two innings of relief as the Minnesota Twins were battered 9-1 by the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday.
The result gave the Astros a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series, moving them within a single win of their seventh straight American League Championship Series. The Twins cannot afford another loss if they are to reach their first ALCS in 21 seasons.
With his team trailing 5-0, Maeda took the mound in the sixth inning as the Twins’ third pitcher, but gave up a walk and single to put runners on the corners before letting Alex Bregman single in a run with one out at Target Field.
“I had to retire their eighth and ninth batter,” the right-hander, who threw a 1-2-3 seventh with two strikeouts, said of the first two batters he faced on the day. “Issuing a walk to the first batter is something to reflect on.”
“I managed to adjust in my second inning, but I believe the job for relievers is to not give up runs and I wanted to keep them at bay.”
The damage was long done for the Twins when Maeda entered the game after a three-run home run from Jose Abreu off Sonny Gray helped Houston take a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Bregman had a solo shot in the fifth and Yordan Alvarez added another in the ninth, with Abreu pulling his second of the day in the same frame for the game’s last two runs.
Houston starter Cristian Javier threw five innings of one-hit ball to earn the win.