It didn't take long for the Minnesota Twins to shake off the sting of how the ALDS started once Game 2 got underway.
Minnesota needed two innings to produce a three-run lead, bombarding Framber Valdez and silencing the crowd in Houston before they could even get settled in their seats. It was in stark contrast to how the game started on Saturday but had shades of the powerful seventh inning the team had that showed serious signs of life.
After falling into a 5-0 hold, the Twins used back-to-back home runs from Jorge Polanco and Royce Lewis to cut the Astros lead to just one run. That energy was present at the start of Game 2, and even more encouraging was the fact that more guys were stepping up.
Carlos Correa hit a clutch RBI double to get the Twins on the board in the first inning, but it was Kyle Farmer who blew things open in the second. Farmer blasted a pitch from Valdez into the left field bleachers to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.
Cory Provus was on the call for the Twins Radio Network and it was as sweet as you're probably imagining.
Listen to awesome Twins radio call of Kyle Farmer 2-run HR in ALDS
1 on for Kyle Farmer, who swings at the first pitch from Valdez and sends it to the stands in left field, a 2-RUN HOMER! @Twins now lead 3-0 in the 2nd... pic.twitter.com/1M52Jczn4m
— TwinsRadio (@TwinsRadio) October 9, 2023
It was Farmer's first career postseason home run, and couldn't have come at a better time. While Minnesota didn't win the first game, it was able to muster up some momentum in ways we hadn't seen teams in previous years be able to conjure.
That four-run seventh inning was more important than what it meant to the score in Game 1, it filled the fuel tank for the Twins and gave them confidence that this series was hardly out of reach for them to take control of.