The Houston Astros defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-1 in Game 1 of their Wild Card series. The game wasn’t decided until the ninth inning when Houston loaded the bases against Twins’ reliever Sergio Romo. José Altuve drew a two-out walk to force in the go-ahead run.
Aa Jorge Polanco throwing error extended the inning, allowing the Astros to pile on. Michael Brantley put the game away for Houston, adding a two-run single. The loss was Minnesota’s 17th straight in the postseason. The Twins must snap the streak Wednesday, or their season is over.
Here’s a lookback of the Twins’ tunnel of misery:
2019 AL Division Series – New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins
Game 3 (Oct. 7 at Min.): Yankees 5, Twins 1 – The Minnesota Twins came up empty on a bases-loaded, nobody out situation in the bottom of the second while already trailing 1-0 due to a Gleyber Torres homer.
Game 2 (Oct. 5 at N.Y.): Yankees 8, Twins 2 – Didi Gregorius hit a back-breaking grand slam during a seven-run third inning.
Game 1 (Oct. 4 at N.Y.): Yankees 10, Twins 4 – A two-run, bases-loaded Gleyber Torres double in the fifth broke a 3-3 tie.
2017 wild-card game
Oct. 3 at N.Y.: Yankees 8, Twins 4 – New York scored three runs in the bottom of the first off Ervin Santana, then took the lead for good in the third on Greg Bird’s two-out single off Jose Berrios.
2010 AL Division Series
Game 3 (Oct. 9 at N.Y.): Yankees 6, Twins 1 – Phil Hughes made his first postseason start, shutting down the Minnesota Twins on four hits over seven innings to complete a three-game sweep.
Game 2 (Oct. 7 at Min.): Yankees 5, Twins 2 – With the game tied at two in the bottom of the sixth, Carl Pavano gave up two runs and didn’t record another out, as a Lance Berkman double and a Derek Jeter single put the Yankees on top for good.
Game 1 (Oct. 6 at Min.): Yankees 6, Twins 4 – Francisco Liriano coughed up a 3-0 lead. Minnesota Twins tied the score on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth, but the Yankees regained the lead in the seventh on a two-run homer by Mark Teixeira.
2009 AL Division Series
Game 3 (Oct. 11 at Min.): Yankees 4, Twins 1 – Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada hit solo home runs in the seventh.
Game 2 (Oct. 9 at N.Y.): Yankees 4, Twins 3 (11 innings) – In the bottom of the ninth, Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan gave up a leadoff single to Teixeira, and Rodriguez followed with a two-run blast to right-center to tie the game. In the 11th, the Twins loaded the bases with nobody out but squandered the opportunity, then Teixeira put them out of their misery with a laser beam of a walk-off homer off Jose Mijares.
Game 1 (Oct. 7 at N.Y.): Yankees 7, Twins 2 – The big blow was a two-run homer by Hideki Matsui in the fifth off Liriano.
2006 AL Division Series – Oakland Athletics vs Minnesota Twins
Game 3 (Oct. 6 at Oak.): A’s 8, Twins 3 – Brad Radke, in his final big league appearance, gave up four runs in the first three innings.
Game 2 (Oct. 4 at Min.): A’s 5, Twins 2 – With two outs in the top of the seventh, the A’s Mark Kotsay hit a sinking liner to center, and Torii Hunter made an ill-advised dive for the ball, which skipped past him and rolled to the wall. Kotsay circled the bases for a two-run, inside-the-park home run.
Game 1 (Oct. 3 at Min.): A’s 3, Twins 2 – In the second inning Frank Thomas hit a solo homer, and Marco Scutaro had an RBI double. Frank Thomas added another homer in the ninth.
2004 AL Division Series – New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins
Game 4 (Oct. 9 at Min.): Yankees 6, Twins 5 (11 innings) In the top of the 11th, Alex Rodriguez doubled, stole third, and scored on a wild pitch by Kyle Lohse.
Game 3 (Oct. 8 at Min.): Yankees 8, Twins 4 – New York hit three home runs in the second, then tacked on four more runs in the sixth to win.
Game 2 (Oct. 6 at N.Y.): Yankees 7, Twins 6 (12 innings) – In the 12th inning, a Torii Hunter homer off Tanyon Sturtze gave the Twins a 6-5 lead. But Joe Nathan issued one-out walks to Miguel Cairo and Derek Jeter before a ground-rule double by A-Rod tied it. J.C. Romero replaced Nathan, and on his first pitch, Hideki Matsui hit a line drive to right that brought Jeter home for the winning run.
