Loperfido's juggling act just might be the catch of the year

MINNEAPOLIS -- Astros rookie outfielder Joey Loperfido, whose barehanded, second-effort catch of a Willi Castro fly ball at the wall in the eighth inning Friday summed up the craziness of the evening, couldn’t help but go to his phone in the moments after Houston escaped Target Field with a 13-12 victory over the Twins.

"I just texted my parents, ‘What a relaxing game,'" he joked.

Hardly. It certainly wasn’t relaxing for the Twins, who gave up 10 runs after the fifth inning, or the Astros, who almost blew an eight-run lead in the ninth inning. Carlos Correa’s grand slam off closer Josh Hader turned a blowout into a nailbiter, but the red-hot Astros keep on piling up the wins nonetheless.

"Sometimes it’s not the way you draw it up, but you’ve got to be resilient and you've got to find a way, and our boys find a way,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.

The Astros improved to 6-2 on their 10-game road trip, pushing their record to a season-high four games over .500 (46-42). They remained two games behind the first-place Mariners in a tightening American League West race.

The Astros were leading, 10-5, in the eighth when Castro crushed a pitch from Astros reliever Luis Contreras to deep right field. Loperfido drifted back and leaped with his glove above the wall and made the catch -- initially.

The ball squirted out of his glove, but Loperfido was able to reach out and snare it with his bare right hand as he fell to the ground. Loperfido threw to first to try to nab Christian Vázquez, who was scrambling back to the base thinking the ball was ruled a catch.

The Astros challenged the call of a no-catch -- and got it overturned, making Loperfido's efforts pay off.

"In the moment, I grabbed it and threw it and I saw [Vázquez] running back to first,” Loperfido said. "It was kind of in slow motion and I just sort of snagged it on my way down. But [center fielder] Jake [Meyers] and I were like, ‘Somebody has to be out.’ We didn’t know who. He had a good angle and said, ‘I really didn’t think it touched the wall.’ Funny play, cool play. I’d like to catch it the first time, but I’ll take it."

Correa, who hit the Twins’ first grand slam of the season against Hader in the ninth, called it one of the best catches of the year.

"It’s got to be, right?” he said. “I mean, the way he climbed up that wall, hit the glove, stayed with it, caught it barehanded. That was very impressive. He even gave a headache to the umpires, so you know how crazy that play was."

The Astros’ offense continues to churn without star slugger Kyle Tucker, who had 19 homers when he fouled a ball off his shin on June 3 and subsequently went on the injured list. They were 8-for-17 with runners in scoring position Friday, led by Jeremy Peña (3-for-5, three runs, three RBIs) and Alex Bregman, who clubbed a three-run homer in the ninth inning as Houston built a 13-5 lead.

"It was great,” Bregman said. “Up and down the lineup, we put together great at-bats all game long. They’ve got a good pitching staff over there and we’re fortunate enough to score enough. Obviously, they’re not always pretty, but a win’s a win and we’ll build off that tomorrow."

Correa was robbed of two RBIs in the second inning by Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, his former teammate, who ran almost 90 feet to corral a popup in left field with the bases loaded.

In the eighth, Correa and the entire city of Houston held their breath when Altuve left the game after being hit on the hand with a pitch. X-rays were negative and he’s day to day.

"It was a fun game,” Correa said. "It was probably one of the most fun games in the season so far. I know we didn’t get the win, but still two great ballclubs going at it, playing good baseball. It’s a joy to watch, especially if you’re a baseball fan. You have to love games like that. Long at-bats. Both offenses putting good at-bats together inning after inning. That was a good display right there.”