MINNEAPOLIS -- Jose Altuve had four hits and Carlos Correa belted a three-run homer to lead the Houston Astros to a 15-7 win over the Minnesota Twins in the first game of a doubleheader at Target Field on Thursday.

It was the second consecutive four-hit game for Altuve, who raised his batting average to a majors-best .366 this season.

Marwin Gonzalez also had four hits and George Springer had two hits, knocked in three runs and scored three times. Correa's three-run blast, his 17th homer of the season, was part of a six-run fifth inning against Twins reliever Buddy Boshers as Houston turned a three-run lead into a blowout. The Astros finished with 19 hits in the contest.

Things got so bad for the Twins late in the game, manager Paul Molitor was forced to move shortstop Eduardo Escobar to the mound to get the final three outs.

Doug Fister (11-7) earned the victory despite allowing five runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in seven-plus innings.

Kennys Vargas had a pair of homers for the Twins, hitting one from each side of the plate. He became the fourth player in team history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game and the first since Ryan Doumit did it on July 2, 2012 against Kansas City.

Houston knocked Minnesota rookie right-hander Jose Berrios from the game after just two-plus innings. Berrios allowed six runs, five of them earned, on eight hits and a walk while striking out one.

Houston got the offense going early as Altuve doubled off the wall in right-center to score Springer from first, advancing to third on the throw home. Twins catcher Juan Centeno then launched a throw to third, allowing Altuve to trot in for a 2-0 lead after one inning.

Houston pounded out five hits off Berrios in the second. A pair of singles put two men on for Springer, who doubled to left field, scoring two. Alex Bregman doubled and Altuve delivered an RBI single for a 6-0 lead.

Springer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to start the fifth-inning barrage. Bregman's sacrifice fly and another Altuve RBI single set the table for Correa's three-run blast.

Houston tacked on three more runs in the ninth inning before Molitor called on Escobar, who allowed a single to the first man he faced before retiring the next three batters in order.

NOTES: The Astros are playing in their 246th doubleheader in franchise history on Thursday but first against an American League opponent. The two-game set is the first doubleheader the Astros have played since 2012. ... Twins 3B Miguel Sano was not in the starting lineup for the first contest of the doubleheader. Sano has four homers in his last five games and 19 on the season. ... Houston will send RHP Chris Devenski to the mound against Minnesota LHP Tommy Milone in the second half of the doubleheader.