Astros 7, Mouse-Angels 4
W: Feldman (2-0)
L: Weaver (0-2)
Contributed by Reuben
The Astros cruised to an easy victory today, as their shortstop, center fielder, first baseman, catcher, and third baseman all homered. My hope is that we get very used to reading similar sentences over the next few years. (It just might be with different names than Presley, Guzman, and Villar.)
This was a strange game. The Astros only managed 7 hits, and did not draw a single base on balls. Normally, that won’t lead to 7 runs being scored. And Scott Feldman pitched with his typical stuff, topping out at 89 mph. Normally, he doesn’t look like a power pitcher compared to the opposing starter, yet there was Jered Weaver, chucking 86-87 mph heat his whole outing. And it worked for him, too; except for those 4 bombs he gave up, he pitched great.
Feldman really was great, though. Having just seen him pitch twice now, it’s hard to say exactly what makes him tick, beyond “he mixes things up, and knows how to pitch.” He had Trout and His Merry Band off-balance all day, getting lots of groundball outs and ending with 7 IP, a mere 3 hits allowed, and 1 earned run, giving him a 0.66 ERA here in the early going. And he has a nice-looking beard, too.
Jason Castro recovered enough from the baseball-shaped bruise on his foot to return to the field today, and launched an opposite-field homer off the LCF façade in his first at-bat, driving in Villar, who had reached after being drilled in the upper calf. Villar appeared to be fine, by the way, as he stole 2nd base on the very next pitch, hit a no-doubt HR in the 7th, and made several fine plays in the field. Yes, THAT Jonathan Villar. Give this kid a chance; he’s still what, 22 years old? Let’s see if he can tighten up his game this year.
Dominguez followed with a dinger of his own in the 2nd inning to push the score to 3-0. Matty D now has 2 hits on the season, both of them traveling over the fence on the fly. He is on pace to bat .111 this season with 54 homers. By the time Howie Kendrick scored the Angels’ 1st run on an Aybar groundout in the 5th-inning, Guzman’s HR had increased the Astros’ run total to 4, so Feldman seemed in control the whole way. Which is a nice feeling to have while watching a baseball game. Even though the final score looked kinda close, the game never felt that way. Will this team blow some leads late? Of course, but it doesn’t feel anywhere near as inevitable as it did last year.
God I love early-season optimism.
Round out your game-recap experience by reading the GameZone thread.