High-powered Astros look to sweep Twins

MINNEAPOLIS -- With an offense led by the likes of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, the Houston Astros lead the American League in runs scored this season. Their shutdown bullpen shortens games, and they have two top-line starters in Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers.

Houston just needs consistency from its other three spots in the rotation and for the starters to stay healthy.

Joe Musgrove was scheduled to start the Wednesday game in Minnesota, but he was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday due to shoulder discomfort. The Astros recalled right-hander David Paulino to start the series finale against the Twins.

"I've thrown through a lot of pain in my career and stuff, and I feel like I've been able to manage it pretty well," Musgrove told MLB.com. "But I feel like this is something where a couple days of rest could really do a lot for it. I feel like I could do more harm to myself and the team to go out (Wednesday) and try to gut through it. If I go out and only get an inning in or being in too much pain to go on, that leaves a lot of work for the bullpen and kind of puts us in a tougher spot."

Paulino will be making his first appearance for Houston this season. The right-hander, considered one of the organization's top pitching prospects, was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in three major league appearances last season, making one start. He has never faced Minnesota.

The Twins will have left-hander Hector Santiago (4-4, 4.31 ERA) on the mound. Santiago is 1/3 with a 4.01 ERA in 11 career appearances (nine starts) against the Astros. He took a loss in his last outing against Houston, allowing five runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings on Aug. 9, 2016.

Minnesota will be looking to Santiago to stem the slide at home. The Twins have lost four of the five games on their homestand and are 12-17 at Target Field.

They also are looking for some momentum after a tough 15-inning loss Sunday, which was followed by losses in the first two games of the series against the Astros. Houston used an 11-run eighth inning to win Monday's game, then rolled to a 7-2 win Tuesday.

"It's one of those things where you play that many games in our sport and you're going to be tested, there's no question about that," Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. "I think the guys here have a pretty good idea that this is one of those early tests that we've had.

"We've had pretty good flow so far. It's been disrupted the last couple days. We're facing a good team, which makes the task a little more difficult."

The Astros hope their starters stay healthy now. Keuchel recently returned from the DL, but Charlie Morton went on the DL last weekend because of a right lat strain.

"I even think under different circumstances you try to push through this," Houston manager A.J. Hinch told MLB.com. "There's some cautiousness that's important for us to take care of (Musgrove) as a young pitcher and where we are in the season. The state of our rotation, we need to make sure we don't push him deeper into more soreness or potential injuries. When he reported more soreness, it became a very easy decision, quite frankly."

Musgrove is expected to miss only one start.

Meanwhile, the Astros' offense keeps clicking along. A day after the big inning spurred an epic comeback, Houston put up 10 hits Tuesday.

Jose Altuve had four hits Tuesday, giving him seven in the series. Alex Bregman, hitting ninth, homered Tuesday for the second consecutive game.

"Everybody knows he's not a ninth hitter, but we have to give credit to the back of the lineup because everybody seems like is getting hits, scoring runs, and that makes A.J. put Alex in the ninth spot," Altuve said. "It was perfect. Everybody's putting really nice at-bats together, and that's why we're scoring runs."