Astros postseason 2023: Houston-Minnesota ALDS to feature returns of Correa, Vazquez
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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Astros knew they would have to fly due north for at least one game during their American League Division Series, which begins Saturday at Minute Maid Park.
The ‘Stros also knew that at least one former member of the ball club would be sitting in the dugout opposite them when the best-of-five series unfolded.
On Wednesday, just days out from tens of thousands of rabid Astros fans putting out more energy than the state could ever emit during a snowstorm, the defending World Series champs found out they would be facing none other than the Minnesota Twins, who completed a two-game sweep of former Astros outfielder George Springer and his Toronto Blue Jays to win their AL Wild-Card Series.
The Twins, who won the AL Central Division, which was statistically the weakest in baseball, had to snap an 18-game playoff losing streak on Tuesday to be able to claim the sweep and snap a nine-series streak of failing to advance in the playoffs.
Minnesota also has the added intrigue of including former Astros players on its roster, including a popular shortstop who famously proposed to his wife on the night Houston clinched its first World Series championship.
That’s right, Carlos Correa leads a collection of former ‘Stros that includes himself, catcher Christian Vazquez, and pitcher Dallas Keuchel on the Twins team.
The video above provides fast facts on Carlos Correa, who was a member of the Astros from 2015 through 2021.
Correa, most notably, re-signed with Minnesota this past offseason after failed signings with San Francisco and then the New York Mets. Vazquez also signed with the Twins as a free agent right after he was a part of the Astros’ 2022 world championship team.
Keuchel, who is currently on the 15-day injured list and not part of Minnesota’s AL wild-card roster, had bounced around baseball after leaving Houston as a free agent in 2019. The former ‘Stro, who was drafted by Houston back in 2009, has had stops with Atlanta, the Chicago White Sox, Arizona, the Texas Rangers, and now Minnesota, where he signed as a free agent this past June.
Houston’s last postseason meeting with Minnesota was during the expanded 2020 postseason when the Astros swept the Twins on the road in the AL wild-card round en route to an AL Championship Series appearance.
Houston lost the regular-season series with the Twins, two games to four.
The baseball world also found out on Wednesday that the 2023 ALCS will be determined with games in played in the state of Texas. The Rangers completed their own AL wild-card series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays. The AL West runners-up will face the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
2023 ALDS schedule, best of five
- Game 1: Minnesota at Houston, Saturday
- Game 2: Minnesota at Houston, Sunday, Oct. 8
- Game 3: Houston at Minnesota, Tuesday, Oct. 10
- Game 4: Houston at Minnesota, Wednesday, Oct. 11*
- Game 5: Minnesota at Houston, Friday, Oct. 13*
Game times TBD.
* – if necessary
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