Twins defeat Astros 3-2 on Christian Vázquez's walk-off homer in ninth inning

MINNEAPOLIS — Christian Vázquez took a few hops up the first-base line as he watched his fly ball sail toward the left-field seats.

Once the ball cleared the wall for a walk-off homer off Houston Astros closer Josh Hader, Vázquez flipped his bat at least 10 feet in the air as his teammates celebrated in the dugout. A stunning 3-2 victory for the Minnesota Twins at Target Field from a hitter who has struggled all season.

It was Vázquez's third career walk-off homer, and the Twins took two of three games in their series against the Astros. Houston was arguably the hottest team in baseball, entering the series with wins in 12 of its last 14 games.

Simeon Woods Richardson, who grew up outside Houston, set the stage for the Twins after he permitted three hits and two runs in six innings in his second start against the Astros this season. He retired his last 13 batters after a two-run and 32-pitch second inning.

Twins relievers Josh Staumont, who was up to 101 mph, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran added a combined three scoreless innings.

The second inning snowballed a bit on Woods Richardson after he issued back-to-back walks to load the bases with one out. A run scored on a sacrifice fly before Jose Altuve thumped an RBI single through the left side of the infield.

The Astros didn't have another baserunner following Altuve's single until the eighth inning. Woods Richardson, who struck out four, was constantly on the attack after throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of his 23 batters, and he induced a lot of weak contact.

The 23-year-old Woods Richardson lowered his ERA to 3.48 through 15 starts, providing stability to the Twins' rotation during a season in which Pablo López and Chris Paddack have struggled.

The Twins tied the score in the fourth inning despite poor baserunning decisions. Brooks Lee reached on a misplay in the infield, then he didn't advance to second base on a pitch in the dirt that rolled a few feet away from catcher César Salazar. Matt Wallner lined the next pitch into right field for a single — the hardest-hit ball of his career at 116.8 mph — to put runners on the corners.

Vázquez, the next batter, hit a ground-ball to third base. Lee initially stayed at third, then he darted for the plate when Alex Bregman's throw went to second base. Altuve, after recording the out at second, fired a one-hop throw to the plate that had Lee beat by four or five steps, but Salazar never secured the ball and Lee slid around him for a run.

There was some initial confusion about whether Lee touched the plate, so Vázquez took a few steps toward second base, and he was thrown out attempting to dive back to first. One bad baserunning play was rewarded, and one turned into a head-scratching out.

As bad as the Twins looked running the bases — Jose Miranda was caught stealing with the score tied in the seventh inning — they made all the plays defensively. Wallner made a diving catch in the fifth inning. In the seventh inning, Lee snuffed out a Mauricio Dubón drag bunt attempt with a strong throw on the run, and Manuel Margot made a sliding grab in left field on back-to-back plays.

Wallner, promoted from Class AAA on Sunday, drew a 10-pitch, two-out walk to extend the second inning. Vázquez followed by lofting an RBI single past a leaping Bregman at third base.

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