Astros-Twins suspended; to be resumed Thursday

MINNEAPOLIS -- Wednesday night’s game between the Astros and Twins was suspended in the top of the fourth inning, with Houston leading, 5-1, due to severe weather in the Twin Cities area.

The game will be resumed from the point at which it was suspended as part of a traditional doubleheader on Thursday, starting at 12:10 p.m. CT. The second game will begin approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first. Both teams will be allowed to use a 27th player for the second game.

After the Twins took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on doubles by Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco, the Astros answered with two in the second and three in the third off Minnesota starter Chris Archer, who exited the game after three frames.

In a highly unusual situation, Twins right-hander Yennier Cano entered the game for his Major League debut in the top of the fourth inning, completed his warmup sequence and was ready to throw his first big league pitch immediately before the rain delay was called at 7:56 p.m., when various parts of the Twin Cities area were under severe thunderstorm and/or tornado warnings.

The game was later suspended at 9:17 p.m.

In the past, a game that was not yet official -- such as Wednesday’s suspended game -- would have been replayed in its entirety at a later date and not picked up from where it left off. That rule was changed in 2020 as part of MLB’s health and safety protocols due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so that all games cut short before becoming official would be resumed instead of restarted.