HOUSTON — Carlos Correa had three hits and three RBIs and Pablo López pitched seven shutout innings, helping the Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 6-2 on Sunday night in Game 2 of their AL Division Series.
Kyle Farmer hit a two-run homer for the Twins, who bounced back nicely after losing 6-4 in the series opener on Saturday night.
Game 3 of the best-of-five series is at Minnesota on Tuesday.
Correa, an October star for so many years in Houston, has returned to the postseason with a vengeance after lamenting how much he missed the playoffs when Minnesota stumbled last year in his first season with the Twins.
Correa hit an RBI double in the first inning in Game 2. He batted with the bases loaded in the fifth and singled to center, driving in two more runs and lifting the Twins to a 5-0 lead.
Correa has eight hits and four RBIs in four games this postseason, helping the Twins to three playoff wins.
López pitched a gem after leading the Twins to the victory in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series. He yielded six hits and struck out seven while lowering his ERA to 0.71 this postseason.
He kept the Astros off balance with a fastball that averaged 95.9 MPH, slightly up from his season average.
Yordan Alvarez, who homered twice in Houston’s win in Game 1, cut the lead to 6-2 with a two-run shot in the eighth inning. But Jhoan Duran pitched a perfect ninth for Minnesota.
First inning
Minnesota 1, Houston 0
Carlos Correa drove in Jorge Polanco with a double off the left-center wall with two outs in the first inning.
Minnesota 1, Houston 0
Jose Altuve led off the Houston half of the first with a bunt single down the third-base line. Alex Bregman followed with strikeout looking. Yordan Alvarez then flew out to right for the second out of the inning. Kyle Tucker hit a flyball to center for the third out of the inning.
Second inning
Minnesota 3, Houston 0
Willi Castro singled to center to lead off the second inning and Kyle Farmer followed with a two-run homer to increase Minnesota's lead to 3-0.
Max Kepler then hit a ground ball that hit the first base bag and allowed him to reach on the infield single. Michael A. Taylor hit into a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning and Minnesota leadoff hitter Donovan Solano grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Minnesota 3, Houston 0
Jose Abreu, Michael Brantley and Chas McCormick went down in order in the home half of the second inning.
Third inning
Minnesota 3, Houston 0
Jeremy Peña made a diving play at shortstop to get Polanco for the first out of the third inning. Royce Lewis struck out swinging and Correa worked a two-out walk, bringing up Ryan Jeffers, who went down looking to end the frame and leave Correa stranded at first.
Minnesota 3, Houston 0
Peña led off the third for Houston and reached on a broken-bat infield single but Martín Maldonado grounded into a double play for the first two outs of the inning. Altuve roped the first pitch he saw from López into left field for a single. He was able to advance to second when a pitch got away from the catcher during Bregman's second at-bat. Bregman then flew out to center for the third out.
Fourth inning
Minnesota 3, Houston 0
Castro, Farmer and Kepler went down in order in the top of the fourth inning.
Minnesota 3, Houston 0
Alvarez went down swinging for the first out of the home half of the fourth. Tucker then worked a walk, bringing up Abreu for his second at-bat of the game in which he moved Tucker up to second with a slow ground out to third. Brantley then singled to left, putting runners on the corners with two outs. McCormick went down swinging to end the threat.
Fifth inning
Minnesota 5, Houston 0
Taylor singled to center on the first pitch of the fifth. Solano then singled to right, putting two on with no outs. Polanco sacrificed, moving the runners to second and third. Lewis, who struck out his first two at-bats, worked a walk, bringing Correa to the plate with the bases loaded. He delivered a two-run single to make it 5-0. The two RBI moved Correa into a tie for third place for the most runs batted in in MLB postseason history.
The single knocked Valdez out of the game and Phil Maton came on in relief. Jeffers laid down a bunt and Bregman was able to tag out Lewis for the second out of the inning. Castro got on with a four-pitch walk to load the bases for the second time in the inning. Farmer went down swinging to end the threat.
Minnesota 5, Houston 0
Peña led off the fifth with a double off the left-field wall but Maldonado grounded out for the first out of the inning. Altuve popped out on the infield for the second out of the frame. Bregman struck out swinging for the last out of the fifth.
Sixth inning
Minnesota 5, Houston 0
Ryne Stanek relieved Maton in the sixth. Kepler grounded out, Taylor flew out to the wall in left and Alex Kirilloff pinch-hit for Solano and grounded out to second to end the inning on the first pitch he saw.
Minnesota 5, Houston 0
Alvarez struck out, Tucker flew out and Abreu popped out to go down in order in the sixth.
Seventh inning
Minnesota 6, Houston 0
Stanek stayed in the game and got Polanco to pop out before Lewis singled to center. Correa then hit a double off the left-field wall to put two in scoring position. The extra-base hit marked the end of Stanek's night and Houston brought in Rafael Montero to face Jeffers, who was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Castro struck out and Edouard Julien came in to pinch hit for Farmer and singled to right, bringing in a run. Correa was tagged out at home for the final out of the frame.
Minnesota 6, Houston 0
Brantley opened the inning with a strikeout and McCormick dropped a blooper into left for a one-out single. Peña grounded out, moving McCormick into scoring position. Yainer Díaz pinch hit for Maldonado and popped out to right-center to end the inning.
Eighth inning
Minnesota 6, Houston 0
Montero remained in the game to face Kepler, who went down swinging. Taylor grounded out and Kirilloff struck out swinging to end the inning.
Minnesota 6, Houston 2
Brock Stewart replaced López to face the top of the Astros' lineup. Altuve lined out to right and Bregman worked a walk. Alvarez then hit a two-run homer to get the Astros on the board.
Tucker followed the blast with a swinging strikeout and Abreu grounded out to end the inning.
Ninth inning
Minnesota 6, Houston 2
Hunter Brown replaced Montero and got Polanco to line out to first for the first out of the frame. Lewis went down swinging and then Correa went down swinging to end the inning.
Minnesota 6, Houston 2
Jhoan Duran replaced Strewart in a non-save situation to face Brantley, who grounded out to second for the first out. McCormick grounded out to shortstop for the second out and Peña grounded out to short to end the game.
