MINNEAPOLIS -- It was difficult to say what made a larger impact for the Astros on Friday night -- the solid pitching of José Urquidy, the sweet swing of Michael Brantley or the defensive clinic put on by the left side of the infield in the eighth inning at Target Field.

They added up to a 6-4 victory over the Twins that seemed against the odds, considering the Astros were coming off a gut-wrenching loss in Boston on Thursday and had an early morning arrival into Minneapolis on Friday. Not even a quick 3-0 deficit was enough to keep the weary Astros from rallying to win to improve to 9-3 in their past 12 games.

• Box score

“You could see they were fatigued,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “The real pros know how to reach back and get some energy when they need it, and this team is full of real pros.”

Here are three takeaways from the Astros’ win Friday:

Urquidy shows rotation mettle
As the Astros approach a decision of which starter to remove from the rotation with Lance McCullers Jr. set to come off the injured list next week, Urquidy bounced back from one of the worst starts of his young career by holding the Twins to three runs -- all on solo homers -- in seven innings.

“He started getting his secondary pitches over,” Baker said. “He started using his changeup and his slider, and he was moving the ball in and out -- and that’s the secret to pitching. It’s not just throwing hard. It’s location and change of speed, and he was a master of that after the three home runs.”

Urquidy, who gave up a career-high-tying six runs in his previous outing, allowed solo homers to Nelson Cruz in the first inning, Miguel Sanó in the second and Josh Donaldson in the third, which were the only blemishes on his night. He struck out eight, walked one batter and gave up one hit outside of the homers. He threw 76 of his career-high 103 pitches for strikes and had a career-high 21 swings and misses.

“I knew I had to reach more than five innings for us,” he said. “I left three pitches very comfortable for them, and they hit homers. I didn’t lose my focus. I was trying to throw, trying to compete.”

Correa, Bregman flash leather
The struggles of the Astros’ bullpen reared their head when reliever Ryne Stanek gave up a game-tying homer to Donaldson in the eighth inning, but it could have been much worse for Houston. Tremendous defensive plays by shortstop Carlos Correa and third baseman Alex Bregman later in the inning kept the Twins from adding on.

“You don’t win games on defense but you save games,” Baker said. “Boy, that was big tonight. That was really big tonight.”

Correa fielded a grounder off the bat of Cruz behind second base and made a pirouette before bouncing a throw to stretching first baseman Yuli Gurriel for the second out of the inning. After an infield hit by Alex Kirilloff, Bregman made perhaps his best defensive play of the season by snagging a 104.5 mph laser off the bat of Sanó and throwing him out at first to end the inning.

“We were in the no-doubles defense because we didn’t want the guy at first base to score,” Bregman said. “I was shaded a little bit to the line. Sanó hits the ball as hard as anybody, and I was trying to knock it down. I was fortunate enough to put a glove on it and long hop it over there to Yuli at first.”

Brantley: professional hitter
Brantley showcased why he’s one of the best hitters of his generation, going 4-for-4 and reaching base all five times in his return to the No. 2 spot in the order. He delivered an important insurance run with a ninth-inning single to bring home catcher Martín Maldonado, who broke a 4-4 tie with an RBI double.

Brantley is 8-for-13 in three starts since coming off the injured list, with the Astros winning all three games. He didn’t play Thursday in a loss to the Red Sox in Boston. Brantley is batting .413 (19-for-46) during a 10-game hitting streak, with all but three of those hits singles. He had a double among his four hits Friday.

It was the 17th time in his career Brantley has had four hits in a game, and he tied a career high by reaching base five times. He has 112 games in which he has at least three hits, which is the 10th most in the American League since the start of the 2009 season.

“It’s a long road trip, and we’re playing very well,” Brantley said.