Opening weekend for the Houston Astros (2-1) looked like a great start to the shortened 2020 season thanks in large part to solid offensive performances on Friday and Saturday against the Seattle Mariners (1-2).
In the first two games of the season, Houston combined for 20 hits and three home runs and outscored the Mariners 15-4. Things were looking up for a team whose aspirations were still all about making it back to the World Series after coming up short against the Washington Nationals.
However, those expectations may have changed in a big way on Sunday afternoon.
It all started on the baseball diamond with Zack Grienke on the mound and putting the Astros behind the proverbial eight-ball, allowing a pair of runs in the first inning. Houston did get out in front though in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a two-run single from Martin Maldanado.
The Mariners were able to come away with a 7-6 win thanks to a pair of RBI singles from Shed Long and Kyle Lewis in the eighth inning.
Towards the end of Sunday’s contest, things didn’t get much better when Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reported that the Astros ace Justin Verlander would be out for the rest of the season due to an elbow injury. After Sunday’s game though, manager Dusty Baker said that “it’s a forearm strain. He’s shut down for a couple of weeks and we’ll reevaluate at that time. That’s all I can tell you.”
The Astros ace chimed in on Twitter to refute the original report as well.
The Astros will wrap up the opening series against the Mariners tomorrow with first pitch set for 6:10 pm and will then host the Los Angeles Dodgers for a two-game interleague series starting on Tuesday.