HOUSTON Astros

 

Opening Day win streak ends at 10 for Astros

HOUSTON -- The unveiling of the 2022 World Series banner, the gold-themed jerseys and a pregame parade of the Commissioner’s Trophy kicked off a Thursday night time healthy for a champion. The most effective thing remaining for the Astros to do become what they'd carried out for the preceding decade: collect an Opening Day win.

A night time of celebration at Minute Maid Park ended with a thud whilst the White Sox used a -run double through Andrew Vaughn off All-Star nearer Ryan Pressly within the ninth inning to snap a tie and beat the Astros, three-2, handing them their first loss in a season opener as a member of the American League.

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“It changed into a incredible environment this night,” third baseman Alex Bregman stated. “Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted. You’ve got to tip your hat to [Dylan] Cease. He threw the ball extraordinarily well. It changed into exquisite to be back playing in front of these lovers. We’ll bounce back.”

The Astros’ vaunted bullpen, which flexed its muscle tissues inside the postseason closing yr in helping Houston move eleven-2 within the playoffs, capped by way of a Game 6 win over the Phillies in the World Series, surrendered a run inside the 8th inning and two in the ninth. The Astros, who misplaced just five instances ultimate yr whilst main after seven innings, were crushed on Opening Day for the first time since 2012, snapping a 10-recreation prevailing streak.

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“Sometimes you get knocked down and you obtain to keep getting back up and hold going,” stated Bregman, who went zero-for-4 on his 29th birthday and were given a pregame shoutout on the sector from actor Mark Wahlberg. “It’s a protracted season. It’s 162 large ones. Turn the web page to tomorrow and keep going. Definitely no longer the way you wanted a birthday to go.”

The Boston Beaneaters are popping champagne someplace knowing their report streak of 10 consecutive Opening Day wins from 1887-ninety six will no longer be surpassed by the Astros.

The only member of the 2012 group on the current Astros squad is Jose Altuve, who’s out for the first  months after fracturing his proper thumb in the World Baseball Classic. Altuve wore a pink forged on his hand and watched from the dugout as Houston’s offense changed into held to four hits, which includes a immense homer from Yordan Alvarez in the ninth.

Cease, who completed second to Justin Verlander of the Astros in last yr’s AL Cy Young Award balloting, carried a shutout into the 7th inning, retiring 19 batters in a row at one factor, inclusive of 10 by way of strikeout. Still, the Astros led, 1-zero, after they scored on a wild pitch in the 7th -- till Yasmani Grandal homered to tie it in the 8th.

We didn’t have a number of offense tonight,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “You’re no longer used to seeing breaking balls like that right out of Spring Training. Usually, he could soar more of them. He changed into getting strike one with that breaking ball, and when you’re throwing ninety eight, you don’t realize if he’s going to throw a breaking ball or a fastball. He was on tonight. We generally don’t strike out that tons, but that guy became quite accurate.”

Pressly, who earned the save in Game 6 of the Fall Classic the closing time he took the mound at Minute Maid Park, entered to the identical flashing-lighting fixtures, Johnny Cash fanfare as he did within the playoffs and gave up a stroll and a hit earlier than Vaughn’s double into left-center received the sport.

“You maintain placing opportunities obtainable, eventually any person comes up with a large hit like Vaughn did today,” Baker stated. “We didn’t have a variety of opportunities. Shoot, they left eleven or 12 runners on bases. Sooner or later, it’s going to chew you.”

The Astros didn’t get a high-quality start off of All-Star left-hander Framber Valdez, who pitched out of a pair of bases-loaded jams and become pulled after five scoreless innings and 85 pitches. Last year, Valdez set a Major League record through throwing 25 consecutive exceptional begins. In  Opening Day begins, Valdez has thrown eleven 2/three scoreless innings.

“We didn’t need to ship him out any other inning and need to deliver somebody in within the center [of the next inning]," Baker stated. “We had him slated for 90 pitches and we didn’t want to take him too deep into the sport because we have a long year, he’s thrown a whole lot of innings and we should preserve Framber.”