When the Astros recalled Jason Alexander from Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday, it raised a question. When Lance McCullers Jr. was scratched from his scheduled start Tuesday with right shoulder inflammation—inflammation that manager Joe Espada acknowledged had been ongoing—the answer became clear. Alexander was ready because Houston knew he might be needed. He delivered.
Alexander threw six shutout innings against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out four, as the Houston Astros held on for a 2-1 win to even the series. It was Alexander’s first start of the season and one of the more quietly effective pitching performances Houston has gotten from anyone not named Spencer Arrighetti.
Isaac Paredes did all the offensive damage the Astros needed in the first inning. Jeremy Peña led off with a single, and Paredes pulled a Zebby Matthews fastball into the left-field seats for a two-run home run—the only runs of the game until the eighth inning. Houston managed just five hits the rest of the way and went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position, but it didn’t matter.
Jake Meyers, activated from the injured list earlier in the day, made his season debut and went 1-for-3 in his return from a Grade 2 right oblique strain.
Alexander’s six innings gave way to Steven Okert, who struck out the side in the seventh. Enyel De Los Santos allowed a run in the eighth—Braden Shewmake misplayed a sharp Bell grounder that ricocheted into the outfield, scoring Byron Buxton to make it 2-1—before Bryan King came on to strand two runners and keep the lead intact.
King was one out away from the save in the ninth when Espada called for Bryan Abreu with runners on second and third after a wild pitch. Abreu got Byron Buxton to pop out to Isaac Paredes in foul territory to end it, earning his third save of the season. King, who left the mound visibly unhappy, settled for his fourth hold.
The Astros are 20-30. Mike Burrows starts Wednesday’s series finale, with the Astros looking to take the series.
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