BASEBALL: Ryan Kreidler's homer lifts Twins to series win over Astros

Ryan Kreidler belted a three-run homer, and Joe Ryan struck out a season-high nine batters, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday at Target Field.

Victor Caratini also contributed with a solo homer in the second inning, finishing with two hits and scoring twice. The Twins improved to 7-4 in their last 11 games after winning the decisive game of the three-game series.

Ryan (3-3) allowed one run on four hits and no walks over six innings, snapping a six-start winless streak. He had gone 0-2 in that span since pitching seven strong innings in Minnesota's 7-4 win in Toronto on April 11.

Reliever Yoendrys Gomez struck out five batters and gave up just one hit in two scoreless innings, while Andrew Morris retired the side in the ninth to earn his first career save.

For Houston, Christian Vazquez drove in a run with a second-inning single, and Cam Smith accounted for two of the Astros’ five hits. Houston has lost eight of its past 12 games.

With the game tied 1-1 in the fourth, Caratini singled with two outs, and Tristan Gray walked to set up Kreidler, who sent an 0-1 fastball from Mike Burrows (2-6) over the left-center wall for his third homer of the season. Kreidler was recalled from Triple-A Saint Paul last week and had two homers during his previous stint with the Twins in April.

Burrows allowed four runs on six hits, walked three, and suffered his second consecutive loss. In his previous start, he gave up seven runs on eight hits—including two homers—in 5 2/3 innings against the Seattle Mariners.

Vazquez had opened the scoring earlier by driving in Zach Dezenzo with a single to center off Ryan, while Caratini’s homer in the second was his second of the season and first since April 13.

—Field Level Media/Reuters