The Twins lost a tough playoff game against the Astros after a brutal ninth inning. With the game tied, Sergio Romo came in and leaned on his slider-heavy pitch mix. But he surprised everyone by throwing multiple two-seam sinkers to right-handed hitters—a pitch he rarely used during the regular season. Gurriel managed a soft single on an 0-2 slider, and Correa followed with a hit off another sinker. Romo managed to get a pop-up and then cruised with more sliders to get to two outs.
Then came the costly mistake. Jorge Polanco made a wild throw on a routine grounder, and Luis Arraez couldn’t recover it. That dropped ball kept the inning alive. Romo was clearly frustrated, but stayed in to face Altuve. Another string of sliders and a missed call on a borderline fastball loaded the count. Altuve walked, and Romo got pulled. The very next batter delivered a two-run hit, breaking the game open 4-1 for Houston. Minnesota’s defense cost them a shot at escaping the inning and maybe taking the game. The Twins are now sitting on 17 straight playoff losses.