MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A daunting road trip began Thursday night. Two first-place teams — the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros — await on this trip with the Oakland A’s primed for an opportunity to gain significant ground in playoff positioning.
“You can’t help but know you’re playing two first-place teams,” manager Bob Melvin said before the game. “And a lot is going to be made of that, but if we can just kind of expect to win today’s game and move on to the next game, that’s the best way to attack a road trip like this where you’re playing a good team and you’re facing a good starter every night.