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HOUSTON – José Miranda hit a tying home run and a tiebreaking double on Sunday, and in return, the Twins plan to give him an unusual reward: the loss of his job.
Miranda’s heroics helped the Twins rally past Houston for a 4-3 victory over the Astros at Minute Maid Park, capturing their fourth straight series and gaining some satisfaction from beating the team that eliminated them from the playoffs in last October.
The Twins hope their third baseman continues to deliver game-altering hits, but it probably won’t be Miranda very often. Royce Lewis is expected to rejoin the team at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, reclaiming the role Miranda has filled admirably for the past two months.
Miranda appears to be in little danger of being traded to the minors (his eight RBIs over the past week are the most for the Twins, and his .280 batting average this season is the highest on the team), but most of his at-bats will come. as a designated hitter, pinch hitter or perhaps first baseman.
Still, Miranda has revived her career after a shoulder injury last year put her in doubt.
On Sunday, with the Twins trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, Miranda launched a 2-2 fastball off Astros starter Hunter Brown well over the Twins bullpen in left-center field, his sixth home run this season.
Two innings later, Trevor Larnach drew a walk on a tight pitch from former Twins reliever Ryan Pressly and Ryan Jeffers tagged pinch-runner Manuel Margot in scoring position to give Miranda another big moment. He delivered with a double over the head of third baseman Alex Bregman, putting the Twins ahead for good.
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Simeon Woods Richardson, pitching for the first time in a stadium where he frequently attended games growing up, allowed three runs in 4⅓ innings, all with a pair of home runs. Victor Caratini provided the Astros’ first run, hitting a two-strike changeup over the Houston bullpen in right center field as the national Roku broadcast interviewed Woods Richardson’s parents.
Bregman added a two-run homer to Crawford’s batters in left field an inning later to put Houston ahead, temporarily. But five Twins relievers shut out the Astros in the final 4⅔ innings, earning the Twins their ninth win in 12 games. Steven Okert earned the win after retiring Yordan Alvarez with the bases loaded to end the seventh, and Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran followed with perfect innings to finish off the series.
Trevor Larnach led off the game with a home run for the Twins and Alex Kirilloff hit another run with a double in the second inning.
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