Twins expect Astros to be ready: 'So will we'

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The Twins are in the driver’s seat.

With the AL Division Series even at 1-1, the showdown between the Twins and Astros now comes down to a best-of-three -- and the Twins now hold home-field advantage, with two of those three set to be contested in front of the rabid home crowd at Target Field. They hold the pitching advantage, too.

• ALDS Game 3, presented by Booking.com: Today, 4 p.m. ET/3 CT on FOX

With Sonny Gray lined up for Game 3 and Pablo López lined up for a potential Game 5, the Astros will need to beat one of Minnesota’s co-aces to win the series. The Astros have Cristian Javier (4.56 ERA) for Game 3, and likely some combination of J.P. France and/or José Urquidy for Game 4.

But the Twins aren’t going to make the mistake of getting overconfident -- and the most prominent voice in that clubhouse will be sure to keep the emotions in check and the focus well-honed.

What this situation does give the Twins, though, is initiative -- and they think that’s key.

They won’t be playing for their lives in Game 3, as they would have been if they’d dropped both games at Minute Maid Park over the weekend. That gives them the license to be aggressive with their in-game decisions and overall philosophy, whether it’s on the basepaths or with their in-game pitching moves or substitutions -- and that’s where they want to be.

“When you're playing on the back foot, when you're playing scared, you're not going to play good,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “Having the confidence in who we are as a team, who we are as a pitching staff, who we are as a position-player group, lets us be on attack because we trust ourselves.

“We feel confident in what we have, what we are as a team, and it just lets us play free and lets us play aggressive."

That mindset starts on the mound with Gray, the bulldog of their rotation, who already stared down the Blue Jays for five scoreless innings in the clinching Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series last Wednesday.

When Gray sees Yordan Alvarez and his imposing presence in the batter’s box, no big deal. Nothing changes. Gray has thrived in those situations this season, holding batters to the AL’s lowest OPS with runners in scoring position and to eight homers all year, fewest ever by a qualified Twins starter in a full season.

“There's a lot of times I'm on the mound where I think, ‘Here it is, me versus you. Let's see how far you can hit it,’” Gray said. “That's my mindset for a lot of pitches I throw. ‘Here it is. I'm coming at you. Let's see how far you can hit it.’ It puts me in a competitive, attack, ‘Here it is, like, I'm coming right at you,’ mindset. Like I've said, that is when I'm at my best.”

This Twins team hasn’t been on its back foot at all in October -- in stark contrast to those that came before. It punched back against the defending World Series champions -- and is hoping to put the Astros into that unfamiliar situation.

“You can't shy away from these big names, these big organizations that have done so much,” Jeffers said. “Success comes from being aggressive and not being passive.”