The Houston Astros and the Minnesota Twins meet in game four of the ALDS from Target Field on Wednesday.

Astros Looking To Advance

The Houston Astros come into this game with a chance to close out the series after a 9-1 win in game three on Tuesday. Jose Abreu led the way with a pair of home runs and 5 RBIs, while Alex Bregman had a 2 for 5 day with a home run and two RBIs while Yordan Alvarez went 3 for 5 with a solo homer and a pair of doubles. Kyle Tucker added an RBI of his own to round out the scoring for the Astros in the winning effort. Martin Maldonado and Mauricio Dubon each had two hits while Jeremy Pena and Jose Altuve each added a base hit as well to finish off the offense for the ‘Stros in the win. Cristian Javier got the win after tossing 5 innings of one hit shutout baseball, striking out 9 in the process. Jose Urquidy will start here and was 3-3 with a 5.29 ERA and 45 strikeouts in the regular season.

Houston Astros Team Facts

• The Astros have won each of their last 10 day playoff games against AL Central opponents.
• The Astros have covered the run line in each of their last 10 day playoff games against AL Central opponents.
• The Astros have won the first inning in three of their last four games as underdogs against AL Central opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Astros’ last six games against AL Central opponents.
• The Astros have led after 7 innings in each of their last six day playoff games against AL Central opponents.

Houston Astros Player Prop Facts

Yordan Alvarez has hit at least one home run in each of the Astros’ last four games against AL Central opponents.
Yordan Alvarez has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Astros’ last six road games against AL Central opponents.
Jose Altuve has scored at least one run in nine of the Astros’ last 10 day games.
Jose Urquidy has recorded four or more strikeouts in four of his last five appearances against AL Central opponents.
Yordan Alvarez has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Astros’ last 11 games against AL Central opponents.
Jose Abreu has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 16 appearances with his team as an underdog against the Twins.
Jose Abreu has recorded at least one Single in each of his last nine road appearances against the Twins after playing the previous day.
Yordan Alvarez has recorded at least one Double in four of the Astros’ last five road games against AL Central opponents.

Twins Trying To Force Game Five

The Minnesota Twins will be looking to force a winner-take-all game five after their loss put them behind the 8-ball on Tuesday. Willi Castro accounted for Minnesota’s lone RBI in the loss while Max Kepler had a double and Carlos Correa added a base knock of his own to cap off Minnesota’s offense as the Twins had just three hits as a team in the losing effort. Sonny Gray took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits with six strikeouts over four innings of work. Joe Ryan will start for the Twins here and was 11-10 with a 4.51 ERA and 197 strikeouts in the regular season.

Minnesota Twins Team Facts

• The Twins have won each of their last eight games following a loss.
• The Twins have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight day games against the Astros at Target Field following a loss.
• The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five day games against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
• The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last seven day games at Target Field against AL West opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Twins’ last three games.

Minnesota Twins Player Prop Facts

• Carlos Correa has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four playoff appearances after playing the previous day.
• Joe Ryan has recorded five or more strikeouts in each of his last 10 appearances against AL West opponents.
• Carlos Correa has recorded a hit in each of his last 11 appearances in day playoff games.
• Carlos Correa has recorded at least one total base in each of his last 11 appearances in day playoff games.
• Byron Buxton has scored at least one run in each of his last nine Wednesday appearances against AL teams that held a winning record.
• Byron Buxton has recorded at least one Double in each of his last three appearances.
• Byron Buxton has hit at least one home run in three of his last five appearances in day games against AL West teams that held a winning record.
• Carlos Correa has recorded at least one Single in each of his last eight playoff appearances.
• Willi Castro ranks 10th in the league in Steals (33) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

The Minnesota Twins rank 30th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1654).

The Minnesota Twins rank 1st in the league for strikeouts this season (1560).

The Houston Astros rank 3rd in the league for hits this season (1441).

The Houston Astros rank 3rd in the league for strikeouts against this season (1241).

Chris’ Pick

I’m going with the Astros to close it out here. I don’t love either of these starters, but Joe Ryan has been prone to giving up a ton of runs and hard contact this season and I don’t see that changing against a Houston team that clearly found an offensive groove on Tuesday. I think the bullpen edge also goes the way of Houston here, so I’ll back the Astros for the series win.