Houston Astros' Alex Bregman homers, plates 5 RBIs in win vs. Minnesota Twins

Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Houston Astros shortstop Alex Bregman had a home run and five RBIs in the final game of a sweep against the Minnesota Twins.

Bregman's blast and bounty of RBIs occurred in a 9-1 triumph on Wednesday at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The All-Star infielder hit his 29th home run of the season in the bottom of the third inning to give the Astros their initial lead.

He stepped into the box to face Twins starter Jake Odorizzi with two outs in the frame. George Springer stood on first base after smacking a single in the second at-bat of the inning.

Bregman took two called strikes before taking a ball. He followed those three pitches by smashing a 92-mph Odorizzi fastball over the left center field fence for a two-run home run. Bregman's bomb traveled 387 feet and had an exit velocity of 101 mph.

Evan Gattis gave Houston a 4-0 lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Willians Astudillo hit a solo shot for the Twins in the top of the fifth frame.

Yuli Gurriel plated Jose Altuve with an RBI single to give the Astros a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Altuve scored Springer with an RBI double in the next inning to increase the Astros' lead to five runs.

Bregman returned to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning. That time, he settled in against Twins reliever Matt Belisle. The right-handed pitcher earned a 1-2 advantage in the count before Bregman worked it full. Bregman knocked Belisle's sixth offering to center field for a three-run single, giving the Astros a 9-1 edge.

Bregman finished the night 2-for-3 at the plate, with five RBIs, two walks and a run scored. He is now hitting .298 with 29 home runs and 96 RBIs on the season.

"Today was a good day," Bregman told reporters. "I put good swings on the ball, swung at pitches to hit. I think I chased one or two pitches away from me. Our team did an unbelievable job today coming out and getting ahead and [Gattis] had a huge homer. We had a lot of traffic on the bases all night."

The Astros start a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at 7:10 p.m. on Friday at Fenway Park in Boston.