After a long absence, Carlos Correa was once again the playoff hero at Minute Maid Park.

He was back in uniform, but it looked different this time.

With aid from three singles and three RBIs from Correa and seven scoreless innings from Pablo López, the Minnesota Twins defeated the Houston Astros, 6-2, in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Sunday night.

The Twins, who had lost the series opener on Saturday night by a score of 6-4, came out strong on Sunday thanks in large part to a two-run homer by Kyle Farmer.

On Tuesday, in Minnesota, the third game of the series will take place.

After a disappointing debut season with the Minnesota Twins, shortstop and former October sensation Carlos Correa has led them back to the postseason. And now that it’s that time of year again, he couldn’t be happier.

“It worked as motivation for me to, one, never miss it again, and, two, be in the spotlight once again and be able to deliver for my team and feel that passion and love that I feel for this game and for winning,” Correa said.

In the first inning of Game 2, Correa hit a double that drove in a run. In the fifth inning, he added to the Twins’ lead with a two-run single to center field. He made a great diving save to get the final out and deny Jeremy Pea a hit.

Correa has contributed to the Twins’ three playoff victories with eight hits and four RBIs in four games.

He acknowledged that the fact that his huge game on Sunday occurred against the Astros made it much more meaningful.

If pressed, he admitted, “I would be lying if I said no.” It’s awesome when you pull it off against your old squad. The series victory is important, but it is not the end goal. I’m determined to bring a title to Minnesota.

Rocco Baldelli, the team’s manager, was extremely impressed with Correa.

“We’ve always heard all the sayings and things, when the lights come on and the bright lights, there are some guys, they’re giants in the light, and he’s one of them,” he explained. Just what you said he was. He is a great player all the time, but when the stakes are highest, he seems to be able to focus all of his energy into his performance.

López threw a no-hitter and helped the Twins win Game 1 of the Wild Card Series with a stellar performance. In seven postseason innings, he allowed just six hits and seven strikeouts, for an earned run average of 0.71.

His fastball averaged 95.9 mph, which was slightly higher than his regular season average, and helped him keep the Astros off-balance.

We knew this game was hugely important after we lost the last one,” he remarked. We devised a sound strategy. We were still bent on taking the offensive.

Houston won Game 1 behind two home runs from Yordan Alvarez, who trimmed the Astros’ lead to 6-2 with a two-run drive in the eighth inning. Jhoan Duran, though, pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Twins.

The win boosted the Twins’ morale before they returned home.

“We’re in the driver’s seat right now,” Michael A. Taylor, the team’s center fielder, said. “We have faith in ourselves, that’s all.”

The Twins hadn’t won a road playoff game since Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS, when they beat the Yankees 2-0. The Twins’ six runs in this game tied their record for most in a postseason game, which they set in Game 2 of the same series.

In the first game of the series, the Astros had to hold off a rally from the Twins, but in Game 2, they trailed the entire time.

In the second inning, Twins leadoff hitter Willi Castro singled, and the next batter, Farmer, hit a home run to left center against Framber Valdez that traveled 377 feet. After going hitless in his first 10 postseason games, Farmer finally broke through with a home run.

Valdez left the game following Correa’s game-winning hit in the fifth. In 4 1/3 innings, he allowed 5 runs on 7 hits.

Through a translator, Valdez admitted, “The command of my pitches wasn’t there.” There was a problem, thus “it wasn’t working.”

With his two-run single, Correa tied David Justice for third place all-time in MLB history in postseason RBIs. He pointed to his overjoyed dugout and pounded his chest in triumph.

Every time Correa came to the bat, the home crowd booed him a little bit. It was a dramatic reversal from the seven years of adoration he experienced at Minute Maid Park after being taken first overall by the Houston Astros in the 2012 amateur draft.

The Astros struggled to put together any kind of offensive rally against López a day after hitting three home runs.

“He was mixing,” Alex Bregman of Houston remarked. His performance was outstanding. He was hitting the ball well; we need to do a better job of putting runners in scoring position.

In the fourth, they had their best scoring chance against the right-hander. With one out and a walk, Kyle Tucker advanced to second on José Abreu’s groundout. A single to left field by Michael Brantley advanced Tucker to third, but the threat was neutralized when Chas McCormick was struck out by López.

In the eighth inning, Edouard Julien hit an RBI single to increase the margin to 6-0.

After starting 12-0 at home in the ALDS since 2017, the Astros were eliminated in Game 4 on Sunday, their first home loss in the Division Series since 2015.