MINNEAPOLIS _ Jose Berrios needed 25 pitches to get through the first two innings Tuesday. Thanks to a double play in the first inning, he had faced the minimum number of batters.
It appeared Berrios was on his way to another strong outing, and fans at Target Field were in for a treat.
Then he began to lose control, quickly, and it never returned.
Berrios easily had the worst outing since his return to the majors as the Houston Astros beat the Twins 7-2. The Astros now eye a sweep of the three-game series, and they continue to show why they might be baseball's best team.
As for the Twins, they needed Berrios, who turned 23 last week, to be a stopper. It was too much to ask for on a night in which he needed 104 pitches to get through five innings. His lack of command made his snappy curveball less effective, and Astros hitters squared up other pitches that were served over the fat part of the plate.
The warning signs popped up in the third inning as Berrios began to hand back a 2-0 lead.
Berrios hit Marwin Gonzalez with a pitch, then gave up a double down the left field line to Yuli Gurriel to put runners on second and third. Alex Bregman's sacrifice fly put Houston on the board. Berrios needed 22 pitches to get through the inning.
Houston then loaded the bases against Berrios in the fourth, getting a run home when Brian McCann hit into a double play. The score was tied at 2. Berrios pounded a fist after striking out Gonzalez to end the inning and limiting the damage to one run, but he now entered the fifth inning having thrown 71 pitches.
Berrios fell behind the first four batters he faced in the fifth, as the Astros loaded the bases, again, with one out. Berrios could not find the magic pitch this time, and Jose Altuve ripped a two-run single to left to give Houston a 4-2 lead.
In five innings, Berrios gave up four runs on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts. He needed 104 pitches. After throwing 65.9 percent of his pitches for strikes over his first three outings, he threw strikes only 60.6 percent of the time Tuesday.
Bregman's solo home run in the seventh put Houston ahead 5-2.
Things might have been different if the Twins offense would have been able to bail out Berrios. They had a good matchup, as right-hander Mike Fiers was back in the rotation after spending one day in the bullpen. He was demoted after giving up a league-high 18 home runs in nine starts. But he received a reprieve when Charlie Morton had to be placed on the disabled list.
The Twins played without Miguel Sano, who was a late scratch when he became ill after batting practice.
The Twins took scored twice in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk by Eddie Rosario and an infield single by Byron Buxton. That was it. Fiers retired the next eight batters he faced while the Astros pecked away at Berrios.
With Buxton on second with two outs in the fourth inning, Ehrie Adrianza dropped down a perfect bunt to put runners on first and third. It brought Brian Dozier, batting .294 with two home runs against Fiers entering Tuesday, to the plate.
But Dozier failed to cash in, striking out to end the inning.
Fiers ended up pitching six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.
And, for the first time all season, Fiers did not give up a home run.
