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The Minnesota Twins ended a streak of nine straight postseason series losses by sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Wild Card Round, setting up an ALDS matchup with the Houston Astros.
Between the Twins’ last postseason series win in 2002 and Wednesday’s triumph—a streak of futility that included 18 straight playoff losses—the Astros have won 16 postseason series, five AL pennants and two World Series titles, including last year over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Given that history and Houston’s home-field advantage, it’s no surprise that DraftKings SportsBook has the Astros (-160) as the favorites over the Twins (+135). But the Twins pose a real threat.
Led by former Astros’ slugger Carlos Correa, the Twins tied for the American League lead in home runs this season (233) and were fourth in slugging percentage (.427). The Twins don’t necessarily have elite and prolific sluggers, but 12 different players hit double-digit homers for the team this season.
The Twins dealt with a lot of injuries this season, and it’s still unclear if Byron Buxton will play in this postseason. But they’ve continued to hit, and the pitching staff gave up just one run in two games to the Blue Jays.
Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray give the team a nice one-two punch in the rotation, while Jhoan Duran had 27 saves in 32 chances.
The Astros, meanwhile, are the Astros.
José Altuve, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Yordan Álvarez, Chas McCormick, Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez and Ryan Pressly are household names who led this team to a title last season.
Houston dealt with injuries themselves throughout the season to key players but still finished third in the AL in batting average (.259), fifth in homers (222), third in RBI (799) and third in slugging percentage (.437).
Oh, and they got Michael Brantley back in late August.
This perhaps wasn’t a vintage Astros season, but the team showed it still knows how to perform when the chips are down, going 5-1 to end the regular season against the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks.
That not only clinched a playoff berth but also won them the AL West. Houston has proven that when the air turns brisk, it plays its best baseball. Now they’ll face a Twins team that won the season series between the teams, 4-2, and finally removed a giant monkey from its back in these playoffs.
The series begins on Saturday in Houston (time TBD).
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