BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (Interstat) — Joe Ryan pitched six innings of four-hit ball, striking out nine, and Ryan Kreidler drove in three runs with a fourth-inning homer as the Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Target Field.

Ryan (3-3) allowed one earned run and walked none. Andrew Morris worked a perfect ninth for his first save. Victor Caratini also homered, a solo shot in the second inning, and finished 2-for-4.

Mike Burrows (2-6) took the loss, giving up four runs on six hits over six innings with two strikeouts.

Houston scored first in the top of the second on Christian Vázquez’s RBI single, but Caratini tied it in the bottom half. Kreidler’s three-run blast to left-center in the fourth put Minnesota ahead for good.

The Astros managed five hits and fell to 20-31. The Twins improved to 23-27.

Attendance was 23,522. The game lasted 2 hours, 15 minutes.