Minnesota Twins beat Houston Astros 3-2 on Christian Vazquez’s ninth-inning home run

Christian Vázquez took a few leaps down the first-base line as he watched his fly ball sail toward the left-field seats.

After the ball cleared the wall for a home run against Houston Astros catcher Josh Hader, Vázquez threw his bat at least 10 feet in the air as his teammates celebrated in the dugout. It was a 3-2 victory for the Twins at Target Field, won by a hitter who has struggled all season.

It was Vázquez’s third career home run, and the Twins had won two of three games in their series against the Astros. Houston was arguably the most in-form team in baseball, having opened the series with wins in 12 of its last 14 games.

Simeon Woods Richardson, who grew up outside of Houston, set the tone for the Twins after allowing three hits and two runs in six innings in his second start against the Astros this season. He retired his final 13 batters after a two-run, 32-pitch second inning.

Twins relievers Josh Staumont, who hit 101 mph, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran added a combined three scoreless innings.

The second inning snowballed for Woods Richardson after he allowed two straight walks to load the bases with one out. A run was scored on a sacrifice fly before Jose Altuve hit an RBI single through the left side of the infield.

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SCORES TABLE: Twins 3, Houston 2

The Astros didn’t have another runner on base after Jose Altuve’s single until the eighth inning. Woods Richardson, who struck out four, was consistently on the attack after throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of his 23 batters, and he drew plenty of weak contact.

Woods Richardson, 23, lowered his ERA to 3.48 after 15 starts, bringing stability to the Twins’ rotation in a season in which Pablo López and Chris Paddack have struggled.

The Twins tied the score in the fourth inning despite poor baserunning decisions. Brooks Lee reached base on an infield misplay, then didn’t advance to second base on a pitch in the dirt that rolled a few feet past catcher Cesar Salazar. Matt Wallner hit the next pitch to right field for a single — the hardest-hit ball of his career at 116.8 mph — to put runners on the corners.

Vázquez, the next batter, hit a ground ball to third base. Lee stayed at third base at first, then rushed to the plate when Alex Bregman’s throw went to second base. Altuve, after recording the out at second base, threw a one-hop pitch to the plate that beat Lee by four or five steps, but Salazar never secured the ball and Lee rounded it for a run.

There was some confusion early on about whether Lee had touched the plate, so Vázquez took a few steps toward second base, and he was tagged out as he tried to dive toward first. A bad baserunning play was rewarded, and another turned into a tough out.

The Twins struggled to run the bases (Jose Miranda was caught stealing with the score tied in the seventh inning), but they made every defensive play. Wallner dove for a catch in the fifth inning. In the seventh, Lee smothered a bunt attempt by Mauricio Dubon with a hard grounder, and Manuel Margot made a sliding catch in left field on two consecutive plays.

Wallner, promoted from Class AAA on Sunday, drew a 10-pitch, two-out walk to extend the second inning. Vázquez followed with an RBI single off a leaping Bregman at third base.