HOUSTON -- The Twins had trouble in the first inning again in their second time employing the "opener" strategy, but after Trevor May's struggles in the first, Houston native Kohl Stewart turned in the best outing of his young career in his role as the primary pitcher.
May, starting for the first time since Aug. 14, 2015, gave up four runs in the opening frame and the Twins couldn't recover despite five scoreless innings from Stewart in a 5-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. Minnesota will continue to use the strategy with its young pitchers this month, but Stewart could pitch his way into a more traditional starting role.
"I know we'll get a lot of questions and everyone is trying to find out if this is good or bad, or sound or whatever," manager Paul Molitor said. "Obviously, Trev went out there and I think he was kind of excited to get an opportunity to get the game going. He left some pitches up and they didn't miss them. They put up four quickly. But Kohl did a really nice job. I was a little concerned with him with all the people he had here at the ballpark, but he made them happy."
May, who entered with a 1.88 ERA over his previous 13 appearances in his return from Tommy John surgery, was hit hard, giving up an RBI double off the wall to Alex Bregman, an RBI single to Tyler White and a two-run homer to Yuli Gurriel. It was the second straight time an "opener" scuffled for the Twins, as Gabriel Moya gave up two runs in that role against the Rangers on Sunday.
"It didn't go the way we wanted it to go," May said. "There was a little bit of sign figuring out on their end. There were guys at second for quite a while. That's pretty regular."
But Stewart, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft out of St. Pius X High School located only seven miles from the ballpark, had success, starting his night by facing No. 9 hitter Tony Kemp, who he struck out looking. He faced 18 hitters -- or exactly two times through the order -- scattering three hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
"It felt really good," Stewart said. "I felt like I attacked better today. I didn't fall behind too often, and when I did, I was able to get back in counts. I'll try to build on this one and go forward."
Stewart used his sinker to generate nine ground-ball outs, including a double play to end the second inning. He departed after throwing 73 pitches, reaching five innings for the first time in five career outings.
"I think there's more of a calmness out there," Molitor said. "Strike-throwing is a huge part for any pitcher. We didn't see it very consistently the first couple of outings, and pitching behind and losing command arm-side a lot. He's just been better at being able to make pitches and work ahead, and not be afraid to use his offspeed to get back in counts when he's got good fastball hitters."

The four runs in the first was enough for veteran Astros ace Justin Verlander, who surrendered one run on three hits and two walks over seven innings with eight strikeouts. Houston native Robbie Grossman had success against him, going 2-for-3 with an RBI double in the third.
Reliever Oliver Drake allowed an insurance run to score in the seventh on an RBI double from Bregman. Former Twins right-hander Thomas Pressly faced his old club in the eighth, striking out all three batters he faced, lowering his ERA to 1.15 since joining Houston. Jorge Polanco capped the scoring with a solo shot off Chris Devenski in the ninth for his fourth homer of the year, but Max Kepler lined into a double play to end the game.

"We made it a little exciting in the ninth," Molitor said. "But had a little blunder there as far as losing track of where we are at and what the score is."
SANO LEAVES WITH LEG BRUISE
In a scary play at second base in the second inning, Twins third baseman Miguel Sano jammed his surgically-repaired left leg into the second-base bag and was carted off the field. But after undergoing X-rays, Sano was diagnosed with a lower left leg bruise. He had offseason surgery to insert a titanium rod in his left shin. More >

"I'm very happy to say that he's doing better than I could have imagined," Molitor said. "At the time, we weren't sure. His first real impact to the area that was worked on last year with the surgery. He was in a lot of pain."

SOUND SMART
Stewart became the fifth Texas-born pitcher to throw five scoreless innings in a debut at Minute Maid Park, joining Matt Albers (2006), Homer Bailey ('11) Clay Buchholz ('14) and Austin Pruitt ('17). Albers was the only other one to do it in relief.
HE SAID IT
"I don't think it had any effect. It was different, but once the game started, it was fine. I felt the same. Once the first inning was over, it's all the same. I just kind of pushed back my routine a little bit. Instead of getting ready at 6:30 it was more like 6:45, 6:50. But once that happened, everything fell into place and worked out. Felt normal." -- Stewart, on coming in as a primary pitcher
UP NEXT
Twins right-hander Jake Odorizzi (5-9, 4.41 ERA) will start the series finale against the Astros at 7:10 p.m. CT on Wednesday at Minute Maid Park. Odorizzi is coming off his best month of the season -- posting a 3.77 ERA in six August outings. Lefty Framber Valdez (2-1, 2.16 ERA) starts for Houston.