The game was effectively decided before Houston had settled in. Josh Bell's two-run homer to center in the first inning and Kody Clemens's three-run shot to right center in the second put Minnesota up 5-1, and the Twins never looked back, rolling to an 8-3 victory over the Astros at Daikin Park.
Taj Bradley was the story on the mound. The right-hander worked five innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits with 3 walks and 11 strikeouts on 97 pitches. He picks up his seventh win against three losses, carrying a 3.86 ERA. It was a performance that gave the Minnesota bullpen a comfortable margin to protect.
Bell set the tone in the first, homering 452 feet to center with Trevor Larnach aboard to put the Twins up 2-0. Clemens answered Houston's one-run response with a 399-foot blast to right center in the second, scoring Keaschall and Lee to extend the lead to 5-1. Larnach added two more in the fifth, singling to center to score Caratini and Keaschall. Luke Keaschall capped the scoring with a solo homer to left center in the eighth. Clemens finished 1-for-5 with 3 RBI; Larnach went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI; Bell was 1-for-4 with 2 RBI.
Tatsuya Imai absorbed the loss, exiting after just 1.1 innings having allowed 5 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks on 57 pitches. He falls to 5-4 with a 6.14 ERA. Houston managed a pair of runs in the sixth — Joey Loperfido singled to score Brice Matthews, and Nick Allen singled to score Cam Smith — but the deficit was far too large. Yordan Alvarez went 3-for-4 but did not factor into the scoring.
Minnesota extended its winning streak to two games and improved to 41-45. Houston dropped to 42-45 with the loss.