Twins defeat Astros as Kyle Farmer, Byron Buxton homer; pitchers strike out 17 Houston batters

The Astros were already well aware of it, but they were reminded on Saturday: That shortstop the Twins acquired last winter sure gets some big hits.

Just probably not the shortstop they were expecting.

Yep, the addition of Kyle Farmer, not former Astro Carlos Correa, has changed Minnesota's fortunes against the defending world champions. One day after delivering the game-winning extra-inning hit, Farmer smacked a three-run home run to give Minnesota an early lead Saturday, then doubled, singled and scored both times as the Twins handed Houston a 9-6 defeat at Target Field.

"Kyle Farmer has given us a lot of everything — not [just] a little bit of everything," raved Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. "He's been incredible in the field, he's had great at-bats, and then he comes out today and really leads the way."

And if Farmer began the rare offensive explosion against the Astros with a bang — the Twins hadn't scored more than five runs against Astros pitching since May 2, 2019 — Byron Buxton ended it with a blast.

Buxton, expecting a slider from Astros reliever Ronel Blanco, adjusted to a down-the-middle fastball instead and deposited it into the upper deck in left, 419 feet away, his first home run since last Aug. 14.

"I wasn't impatient. It's just more [like], 'Why ain't one went out yet?' " Buxton said with a smile. "Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it's not going to happen. And once it starts, you get in that groove and more seem to come quicker than normal."

Quick was a good way to describe what happened to Joe Ryan after Farmer's homer helped to hand him a 4-0 lead. The Twins' righthander didn't allow a hit to the first eight hitters he faced, and retired the final 11 batters of his six-inning, 10-strikeout stint as well. But the four hitters between those streaks of effectiveness went single-single-walk and then Jordan Alvarez's third career grand slam, a fly ball that struck the top of the planters in front of the right-field seats and erased that deficit in about three sudden minutes.

"Honestly, off the bat I really didn't think it was going to leave the yard," Ryan said. "But [Alvarez is] one of the best hitters in the game, and that's what he does. You leave a fastball down the middle, he's not the best guy to do that to."

No worries, though, not with Farmer around. The onetime shortstop, who is mostly playing second base with the Twins, entered the game with a 5-for-8 career history against Houston. So it wasn't a surprise when he doubled in the sixth inning and scored on Christian Vázquez's single, then put himself in the middle of the Twins' eighth-inning rally, too.

He followed Nick Gordon's leadoff walk with a single, with Gordon scoring on Vázquez's single to left. Both were on base with a good view of Buxton's upper-decker.

"That ball was absolutely killed," Farmer said. "He's a lot of fun to watch. Never seen someone like him play the game of baseball."

And no one has ever seen Twins pitching mow down hitters like this, particularly against such a decorated offense. Ryan struck out 10 and the bullpen tacked on seven more, the last one Jhoan Duran's three-pitch abuse of pinch-hitter Yanier Diaz to end the game and record his second save of the season. Combined with Sonny Gray's 13 the night earlier, the Twins have whiffed 33 Astros in two days, their highest total ever in back-to-back games.

The pitching has been good since the season started, though. It's the hitting that's been a little inconsistent, so Baldelli was thankful that Farmer has stepped up this weekend.

The Astros "don't give up very many runs or hard-hit balls. They have a very good staff, and it's usually a battle out there," the manager said. "[Farmer] just went up there, at-bat after at-bat, and did big things. Winning the game yesterday, then coming out here today, it's been an enormous lift.

"And I see him doing that for us all year long."