MINNEAPOLIS — By the time starting pitcher Michael Pineda exited the game after the fourth inning Sunday, the Twins had already lost.
The Astros just used the remaining innings for batting practice.
Houston left Target Field with a monster 14-3 victory, racking up a season-high 20 hits which nearly tripled the Twins' seven. They fell to 26-39, continuing to flail at the bottom of the American League Central. Houston, meanwhile, proved it's a contender in the AL West at 37-28 despite the boos of an announced 19,147 fans.
Pineda, who has dealt with various injuries this season from an abscess to arm soreness, exited with right forearm tightness after giving up six hits and three earned runs — including a two-run home run to Kyle Tucker — with just one strikeout.
Randy Dobnak had been in the starting rotation but switched back to the bullpen to take Pineda's place. A broken fingernail and subsequent bruising had plagued him in his most recent start, and Sunday's two innings weren't much cleaner. Dobnak gave up seven hits and six earned runs, including a two-run double from Michael Brantley and a two-run homer from Yordan Alvarez.
Alexander Colome pitched the seventh inning but continued the struggling theme. He allowed three hits and two earned runs from a double-RBI single from Brantley.
Former starter Matt Shoemaker, recently demoted to the bullpen, took the mound for the final two innings but repeated his shaky performance from Friday's debut. He coughed up four more hits and three more runs, one of which was a solo homer to pinch hitter Chas McCormick.
The Astros scored in seven of nine innings, including each of the final six. They were hitless in only the second and third innings.
The Twins offense was scoreless through the first four innings, managing just two hits in that time. Ryan Jeffers prevented a shutout with a solo homer in the fifth inning. Nelson Cruz made up the rest, batting in Josh Donaldson in the sixth and hitting a solo home run in the eighth.
