Minnesota Twins lineup, TV channel, start time vs. Houston Astros (July 5th)

It wasn’t the nicest of days on Thursday, but the Minnesota Twins still provided plenty of firewords on the 4th of July.

Minnesota didn’t even need a full nine innings to dismantle Detroit, beating the Tigers 12-3 in a game that was called after the seventh inning. The Twins are back at Target Field tonight, welcoming in the Houston Astros for the first time this season.

It’s the second time the Twins and Astros will have met this year, though. Minnesota went down to Houston at the end of May and took two of three games. It was a huge boost for the Twins at the right time, and two months later they’re going to try and run it back and keep the good vibes rolling as the All-Star Break quickly approaches.

For the third straight game, Brooks Lee is in the Twins lineup and hitting eighth. Rocco Baldelli came out and said that Lee would be filling in for Royce Lewis and it seems that he’s firmly taken over the role at third base.

Here’s the rest of what the Twins are rolling with tonight against Houston:

1. Willi Castro, 2B
2. Carlos Correa, SS
3. Trevor Larnach, LF
4. Jose Miranda, DH
5. Carlos Santana, 1B
6. Max Kepler, RF
7. Byron Buxton, CF
8. Brooks Lee, 3B
9. Christian Vazquez, C

It’s Pablo Day! Pablo Lopez (8-6, 4.88 ERA) is on the mound for Minnesota in its series opener against Houston. So far it seems that the Astros aren’t exactly a formidable foe for Lopez, who has dominated them in his last two outings.

We all remember what he did in the ALDS last season, turning in a siguature moment for the Twins, and he crushed Houston in his only start against them so far this season. Lopez went seven innings and struck out six and allowed just a single run in a 6-1 win over the Astros back in May and he’s looking to show more of the same tonight.

Houston is sending out Shawn Dubin (1-1, 4.91 ERA) to go against Lopez in what appears to be a bullpen game for the Astros. Dubin has primarily pitched relief appearances this season, but has done decent in those games. It seems Minnesota has an early pitching advantage, something the offense should jump all over to help Lopez with some run support.

Here are the current streaming options that fans can use to watch the Twins, both inside and outside of the viewing area.

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