The Houston Astros (0-1) fell to the Los Angeles Angels (1-0) 3-0 on Thursday afternoon inside Daikin Park. The loss is the third in the last four Opening Day games for Houston.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Astros turned to their now-ace Hunter Brown on the mound on Opening Day. Brown did allow Mike Trout to reach via a walk. Trout would also steal second. However, Brown struck out the other three batters he faced to have a clean first and turn things over to the Astros’ lineup.
That Astros’ lineup would be tasked with facing right-hander Jose Soriano. Despite a controversial foul ball by Yordan Alvarez that hit the rafters and appeared to be a possible home run, the Astros went down quietly. Soriano struck out two in the frame.
Both pitchers were effective early on, limiting opportunities for the opposition. In the third inning, the Astros would load the bases. They did so via three walks, one of the intentional variety to Alvarez. Carlos Correa would come up and hit a ball hard, but it was right at the left fielder to end the inning and keep the score 0-0.
The Angels took their turn to load the bases in the top half of the fourth. Two infield singles and one that was sharply hit set the scene. However, Brown induced a groundout to keep the game gridlocked at zeroes.
Brown’s pitch count took a turn for the worse, and he was only able to complete 4 2/3 innings. He left runners on the corners when he exited, but AJ Blubaugh came in and got a strikeout to keep the game scoreless at the halfway point.
In the top half of the seventh, Trout got his squad on the board. He launched a no-doubt mammoth blast into the Crawford Boxes, giving the Angels a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the eighth, the Angels extended their lead. Oswald Peraza delivered an RBI single off of Bryan King of the Astros. That made it 2-0.
Nolan Schanuel added one more to the lead in the top of the ninth. He hit a solo home run to make it 3-0 heading to the bottom half.
Houston would go down quietly in the ninth, falling to the Angels 3-0.
BIG NUMBER: 46
Today marked the 46th time in 67 years that the Astros’ history that they opened at home on Opening Day. In those games, their record now sits at 25-21 after the loss.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mike Trout
Trout went 1-2 with a home run and three walks. It was a reminder of his prowess when healthy.
UP NEXT: The Astros and Angels will play the second game of their opening series tomorrow night at 7:15 PM inside Daikin Park.