Astros’ Tatsuyi Imai struggles early as Twins pound Houston 8-3

The Houston Astros had an early-game problem Tuesday night that they could not solve, falling to the Minnesota Twins 8-3 in a game played before an announced crowd of 29,179. Starting pitcher Tatsuyi Imai’s outing unraveled quickly, with Minnesota taking charge early and never letting the Astros fully settle into their offense.

The biggest damage came soon after the game opened. The Twins produced early scoring in the first stretch of innings, highlighted by a drive from Josh Bell that traveled to dead center. According to the game account, that homer became the fifth longest ball hit to center field since Target Field opened in 2000, and it helped Minnesota turn early momentum into a 2-0 lead.

From there, the inning turned into a multirun outburst. The report described Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee reaching on walks before Kody Clemens delivered a deep shot to center, extending the Twins’ cushion. Minnesota then added more by working more free passes, including another walk issued by Imai to Bell, before the Astros finally brought the first frame to an end.

Imai’s final line captured the night’s theme: 1.1 innings pitched, five earned runs, five walks, and four hits allowed, including two home runs. The control issues and the home runs were paired with a fast escalation in Minnesota’s scoring pace, making it difficult for Houston’s bullpen to pitch in anything close to a one-run game.

The Astros managed a first run when they got a runner on and capitalized on Minnesota’s defense. The described sequence started with a leadoff walk by Jose Altuve, followed by Yordan Alvarez’s first hit of the night and a scoring play on a double play groundout by Isaac Paredes. Houston’s scoring at that point was modest, however, because Minnesota kept pushing runs onto the board between the early innings.

Houston did find a clearer window of offense in the sixth. The account said Brice Matthews (who entered after Christian Walker left the game with lower back stiffness) and Cam Smith reached consecutively to open the inning. Joey Loperfido and Nick Allen then followed with RBI singles to cut the deficit to 7-3, though Minnesota responded by keeping that as the closest point.

On the other side, the Twins’ pitching delivered the kind of separation Houston could not overcome. Their starter, Taj Bradley, recorded a season high 11 strikeouts, including a stretch where the report described him retiring five in a row at one point. The Astros scored again late but not enough to reverse the deficit, and Minnesota’s lead held for the final 8-3.

What to watch next for both teams is simple: Minnesota’s ability to set games’ tempo early, and Houston’s need to stabilize its starting pitching when runs come in waves. With Imai’s outing framed by two home runs and heavy walk totals, the Astros will likely look to tighten early execution and give their bullpen cleaner, lower-leverage innings in the next matchup.