1st ‘W’ for Berrios, rare home loss for Keuchel

HOUSTON — Astros ace Dallas Keuchel suffered his first defeat at Minute Maid Park in a span of 23 regular-season starts on Monday night, allowing five runs, five walks and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings in a 6-2 loss to the Twins in the series opener. The Astros have yet to win consecutive games.

The Twins, who snapped a four-game losing streak, took advantage of four Keuchel walks during a 46-pitch fourth inning to score three times — on an RBI single by Eduardo Escobar, a sac fly by Eddie Rosario and a walk to Eduardo Nunez to take a 3-1 lead. Byung Ho Park chased Keuchel with a two-run triple in the fifth, and Nunez blasted a solo homer off Josh Fields in the sixth to make it 6-2.

Twins starter Jose Berrios, making the second start of his career, held the Astros to three hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings for his first Major League win. The only runs he allowed came on solo homers by Preston Tucker in the second and George Springer in the fifth. He pitched around five walks and struck out eight.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Patience pays off: Twins manager Paul Molitor said before the game that one reason for Keuchel’s effectiveness is his propensity to throw pitches out of the zone to get hitters to chase. The Twins listened to Molitor’s advice, scoring three runs in the fourth against Keuchel, keyed by four walks. Escobar delivered a single with the bases loaded to …

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