Meyer’s first start unravels in third in Twins loss

Published 9:34 am Wednesday, May 4, 2016

HOUSTON  — Alex Meyer’s first career start was going well through the first two innings.

The third inning started poorly and things snowballed from there for the right-hander.

Jason Castro and George Springer hit homers and the Houston Astros held on for a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

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Meyer lasted just 2 2-3 innings, allowing three runs and three hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

“The biggest thing was just not being able to locate my breaking ball in that third inning,” Meyer said. “That just opened things up for them.”

Castro hit his first homer of the year to lead off the three-run third inning, and Springer hit a shot that bounced off the railroad tracks in left field and out of the stadium to cap the three-run fourth.

Castro’s home run was knocked down by a fan and never made it over the wall into the Crawford Boxes, but it was called a homer, and after a lengthy review, it was confirmed.

Jose Altuve and Springer walked after Castro’s blast before Carlos Correa knocked an RBI double and Alex Meyer (0-1) uncorked a wild pitch to score Springer and give the Astros a 3-2 lead.

Meyer, who was 1-1 with a 1.04 ERA with Triple-A Rochester in three starts this season, said he wouldn’t use the replay delay as an excuse for the way the third inning unraveled.

“I gave up a leadoff home run, then walked a guy and started pressing a little bit,” Meyer said.

Carlos Gomez, who was out of the lineup the last three games with a sore rib cage, had two doubles and scored on a balk by Tommy Milone to make it 4-2 before Springer’s sixth home run of the year.

Danny Santana led off the game with a home run off the right field foul pole. It was his third career leadoff homer but first since July 31, 2014. Byung Ho Park hit an opposite-field upper deck solo home run in the sixth to cut the lead to 6-4.