HOUSTON -- The Twins faced an uphill battle in Wednesday night’s series finale against the Astros to close their six-game road trip after a rainout last Friday in Baltimore left their starting rotation short-handed.

Houston native Kohl Stewart gave Minnesota some needed length in a six-inning spot start before he was optioned back down to Triple-A Rochester following the game, but familiar foe Justin Verlander controlled the game for the Astros as the Twins fell at Minute Maid Park, 7-1, in the rubber game of the series.

Jorge Polanco crushed a solo homer, his fifth of the season, to the upper deck in right field as part of his continued strong start to the 2019 campaign, but Verlander otherwise quieted the surging Twins offense in an efficient eight-inning start. The Houston right-hander allowed only an Eddie Rosario double and a pair of singles, cruising to his 20th career victory over the Twins, which ties CC Sabathia for the most among active pitchers.

Despite dropping the series in Houston, the Twins still rode an offensive outburst in Baltimore to a largely successful 4-2 road trip, during which they mashed 15 home runs in six games and averaged 6.7 runs per game.

“I thought it was a very good trip,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Obviously, coming in here, it is a difficult place to play and it’s against a good team, but I think our guys battled pretty well and it was good to win a game in here. Obviously, we want to win every game, but overall it was a very, very solid trip.”

Heading into Thursday’s off-day, here are three takeaways from Minnesota’s road trip:

The bullpen’s lack of depth could be an issue
As the pace of the Twins’ schedule has picked up, Baldelli has needed to rely more on his less experienced bullpen depth, even in close games.

Though the core of Minnesota’s relief corps -- Trevor Hildenberger, Blake Parker, Taylor Rogers and Trevor May -- has largely held firm, the Twins saw the relative inexperience among the other members of their bullpen start to become an issue as Baldelli has asked them to take on higher-leverage roles at times that they had not necessarily assumed at the beginning of the season.

“We've played a bunch of close games, which has kind of amplified the effect of the usage and us having to think about that on a regular basis,” Baldelli said. “So I think they've handled it well as a group.”

Ryne Harper, Tyler Duffey, Adalberto Mejia and Fernando Romero combined to allow 12 runs on 12 hits in nine innings over the course of the six-game road trip. Matt Magill could come off the injured list to rejoin the bullpen before the next homestand, but with the Twins set to play 27 games in 27 days after Thursday’s off-day, they will need their less experienced arms to continue to develop and contribute in key moments.

"Overall, I'm reasonably happy with what we've seen,” Baldelli said. “At given points, we've probably been more hit-or-miss at different times. … As a general thought, I think our bullpen has done a good job keeping us in games, and they've won a few games for us with their efforts."

The Twins are taking care of business in winnable games
After going 33-24 against the sub-.500 Tigers, White Sox and Royals last season -- games in which the Twins could have picked up easier wins to make up ground on the American League Central-leading Indians -- the Twins have started 2019 by largely taking care of business against opponents expected to be less competitive.

Though the Twins dropped a four-game series at home to the Blue Jays, the Twins have otherwise swept the Royals, Tigers and Orioles, capped by their three-game sweep over the weekend at Camden Yards in which they smashed 11 homers and outscored Baltimore, 26-15.

The Twins have accomplished that while avoiding being swept themselves, claiming one game each in tough road series against the Phillies, Yankees and Astros.

The new-look top of the lineup continues to perform
The Twins scored 10 first-inning runs on the road trip, including runs to open four of the six games against the Orioles and Astros. The new-look top of the lineup, typically featuring Max Kepler or Mitch Garver in the leadoff spot, Polanco hitting second, and the newly acquired Nelson Cruz third, has combined for 15 homers, 15 doubles and three triples in the first 22 games.

Kepler saw a 15-game on-base streak come to an end in an 0-for-4 performance against Verlander on Wednesday, but Polanco hit his fifth homer of the season to follow up a four-hit game in Monday’s series opener.

And significantly, the top three spots in the Twins’ lineup have combined for a .343 on-base percentage this season to set the stage for cleanup hitter Rosario, who became the first hitter in Twins history to reach 10 homers before May 1 and has reaped the benefits with 23 RBIs, second in the AL.