HOUSTON – As the Twins debated the final spot on their 26-man American League Division Series roster, it came down to speed off the bench and a second lefthanded reliever in the bullpen.

Speed won. The Twins removed rookie lefthanded reliever Kyle Funderburk from their 26-man roster for the American League Division Series to make room for Game 1 starter Bailey Ober. Funderburk did not make an appearance in the wild-card round, but the move left Caleb Thielbar as the lone lefty in the Twins bullpen.

Speedy outfielder Andrew Stevenson did not appear in the wild-card series either, but he remained on the roster. He stole four bases in five attempts in September.

“One thing our pitching group does have to offer is we have five active starters on an ALDS roster, which I don’t think every team has,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “On top of that, we have another guy or two that can go two or three innings in the pen. We have several guys that can cover more than an inning.”

Another reason why the Twins decided they were OK with only one lefty in the bullpen is how much Houston’s lefthanded batters crush lefthanded pitching. Designated hitter Yordan Alvarez posted an .892 OPS in 174 plate appearances against lefties and right fielder Kyle Tucker had a .934 OPS in 238 plate appearances.

The only lefthanded batters in the majors who had a higher OPS against lefty pitching than Tucker this season were the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman and the Cubs’ Cody Bellinger.

And sure enough, Alvarez homered off Thielbar in Game 1. Alvarez had a two-home run game as the Astros beat the Twins 6-4.

“We have spots to run because of the way Rocco’s used the bench,” said Derek Falvey, the Twins president of baseball operations. “When you have someone like Willi Castro, who can really run, and you have Andrew Stevenson, it just adds a little bit of a dynamic to a team in a tight game, in a tight series, which we fully expect this to be.”

Funderburk, a rookie called up at the end of August, posted a 0.75 ERA in 12 innings with 19 strikeouts and five walks.

“If we had just a one-inning group of guys to choose from, then you have to really consider carrying the extra pitcher,” Baldelli said, “but that’s not our group this year.”

Hot corner beckons

Royce Lewis started Game 1 of the ALDS at designated hitter, but the Twins haven’t ruled out him playing third base over the next week.

Lewis, who missed the last two weeks of the regular season because of a hamstring strain, fielded ground balls at third base Friday. Baldelli said Lewis was making “gradual progress,” but he’s not at the point where he’s ready to start games at third without risk of aggravating his hamstring.

“Can he make most of the plays right now without issue? Yes, he can,” Baldelli said. “But it’s not really about making most of the plays. It’s about some of the more difficult plays that he will have to be asked to make in these games.”

With Lewis limited to DH, Jorge Polanco has been starting at third. Polanco and Lewis had back-to-back home runs in Game 3, but they had back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.

Buxton remains off roster

Byron Buxton took swings in a live batting practice session during Friday’s workout at Minute Maid Park, homering off Jorge Alcala into the left field Crawford Boxes, but he wasn’t under serious consideration for the ALDS roster.

“With the way the rest of the roster is shaking out, Royce and where he’s at right now, just felt the best thing for us to do is deepen the position players so we have more flexibility,” Falvey said. “Byron hasn’t progressed yet to running the bases, pushing, running a lot more, and that’s probably the gap there at this point.”

Etc.

• The Twins announced Game 3 and a potential Game 4 of the ALDS at Target Field are sold out.

• Johan Santana tweeted, “Great job. That shirt looks great on you” in response to Pablo López wearing Santana’s jersey before López’s Game 1 start in the wild-card series. López idolized Santana growing up in Venezuela. His reaction to the tweet? “I couldn’t believe it when it happened,” he said Saturday.

• Houston’s ALDS roster didn’t include veteran reliever Kendall Graveman because of right shoulder discomfort. The Astros are also going with 14 position players and 12 pitchers — only one of whom is lefthanded, Framber Valdez.