It might not end up being the Houston Astros year but March 31st was certainly the Houston Astros’ night. Everything went the way of the scrappy club predicted to lose more games than any team in baseball. The Stros made their American League debut in style, showing off their flashy new uniforms and blasting their cross-state — and new division — rivals the Texas Rangers 8-2.
Everything that could go the Astros way did. The play featured in the image above, wherein Justin Maxwell picks a ball off the grass after making a valiant diving effort, was ruled a catch. Pinch hitter and fourth outfielder extraordinaire Rick Ankiel hit a key three-run homer off reliever Derek Lowe.
The Astros brought in their fifth starter, reclamation project Erik Bedard, to pitch in relief and he ended up throwing three and one-third sparkling innings, allowing just a broken bat single in the ninth for the highly unusual save.
From the look of things, “highly unusual” is going to be uttered in the same breath as “the Houston Astros” quite a few times this season.
