In a battle between winless teams that made the playoffs last year, one was going to emerge thinking it could turn its season around and the other was going to end up even more desperate.

The Minnesota Vikings have reason for optimism after holding off a late rally by the now-despondent Houston Texans on Sunday.

Dalvin Cook ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns for the Vikings (1-3), who beat Houston 31-23.

Carlos Correa hit a two-out, tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning for the Astros, who produced another stifling pitching performance and swept Minnesota over two games with a 3-1 victory Wednesday that sent the Twins to a record 18th straight postseason loss.

Nelson Cruz gave the Twins an RBI double for a second straight game, this time in the fourth inning against starter Jose Urquidy.

Kevin Molino and Kei Kamara scored and Minnesota United picked up its first win in five games, beating FC Cincinnati 2-0 on Saturday night.

Kamara gave Minnesota (6-5-4) a 1-0 lead, converting a penalty kick in the 16th minute.

Alex Douglas can be reached at doug5921@stthomas.edu