Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins: 2020 ALCS simulation
By Bill Felber
The Minnesota Twins and the Houston Astros play a memorable seven-game ALCS.
The simulated 2020 ALCS between the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros developed into a classic confrontation. Had it played out the same way in the real world, it would be memorialized as one of the exceptional post-season series of all time.
It was also very much a free swingers ALCS, with no mercy shown to the pitchers. The two teams combined for 91 runs and 156 base hits. Thirty-two of those 156 hits left the ballpark, 10 in the sixth game alone.
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That meant there were also plenty of wasted scoring opportunities. The teams combined to strand 123 runners, an average of 17 and one-half per game.
That was a lot more offensively oriented than the teams’ six-game regular-season series, which went to the Astros 4-2. Houston pitching shut out the Twins twice in those six games, the average score being only 6.5 to 4.5. In the ALCS, the teams averaged 13 runs per game.
Minnesota entered the ALCS with slightly better regular-season performance and thus with home-field advantage. The Twins took the AL Central with a 109-53 record, five games better than Houston’s 104-58. Both teams put away their divisional opponents in four games, meaning both entered the ALCS with largely rested staffs.
The Twins entered the series absent starting pitcher Rich Hill, who had not been available since mid-September due to chronic injuries. Houston manager Dusty Baker, by contrast, fielded a healthy roster for the first time in a month.
With aces primed and at the ready, Baker sent Justin Verlander (18-7, 3.63) to face Minnesota’s Jose Berrios (16-7, 3.00) in the ALCS opener at Target Field.