Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins: 2020 ALCS simulation

Game 1 of the 2020 ALCS simulation between the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins.

Berrios came out shaky. After retiring the first two Astro hitters, he lost sight of the plate, walking both Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez. That gave Michael Brantley an unearned scoring opportunity, and Brantley cashed it with a line single to right field that scored Bregman.

In the bottom of the first, the Twins resorted to their season-long Plan A – the long ball – to even the score. With two out DH Nelson Cruz took Verlander down the line in left for four bases. But the Houston Astros could blast the ball too; in the second, Berrios grooved a pitch that catcher Martin Maldonado rose into the left-field seats, re-establishing Houston’s 2-1 advantage.

Berrios went wild again in the third, and again it cost him. With two out, he walked Alvarez a second time,  passed Brantley as well, and faced Yuli Gurriel with two runners on. Gurriel shot a hit into right that allowed Alvarez to score the run that increased Houston’s lead to 3-1.

Alvarez got a third shot at Berrios in the Houston fifth, and this time the Twins pitcher threw him a strike. Big mistake: Alvarez deposited it over the wall in right, increasing Houston’s lead to 4-1. Berrios was gone by the seventh, but the Astros tied into young left-hander Devin Smeltzer for the fifth run on George Springer’s double, another base on balls and Bregman’s RBI single.

Verlander, meanwhile, was cruising. He set down the Twins on a single hit between the second and sixth innings. In the home half of the seventh, however, Minnesota’s offensive arsenal geared up. With two out Mitch Garver blasted a home run deep into the left-field seats, and Jorge Polanco did the same, his leaving play in right.

That brought the Twins back within two runs, 5-3, and prompted Baker to lift Verlander in favor of right-hander Joe Biagini.  When both teams added a run in the eighth, the Astros sent Ryan Pressly out in the ninth in search of his 10th save. He got it – nervously  — allowing a leadoff double to Garver before retiring Polanco, Miguel Sano, and Willians Astudillo.

Houston               111    010    110    — 6 11  0

Minnesota          100     000    210    — 4   6  0

W: Verlander. L: Berrios. S: Pressly.