Game 1: April 5, 2016
Astros 5, Yankees 3
W: Keuchel (1-0) L: Betances (0-1) S: Gregerson (1)
HR: Correa (1), lesser man than Correa (1)
SB: Correa 2 (2), Altuve (1), ancient cheater (1)
Dana got up, dressed all in black;
Went down to the stadium, and he never came back
By the bottom of the first, Mark was calling him a hack
and his friends down on Wall Street were in mourning.
Hello, friends, and welcome to another season of Astros baseball. A season that started, as Abner Doubleday the Founding Fathers ESPN intended, in the 36 degree chill of a New York April. The conditions ensured that pitchers would struggle with their touch, hitters would wince at any ball not hit square, and fans would suffer. These are not conditions conducive to a win for the Good Guys.
None of this mattered, for one simple reason – a reason that will likely be the reason for many, many Astros victories this year:
The Houston Astros have Carlos Correa. The team opposing the Astros does not have a Carlos Correa.
It appeared in the early going that Correa might wear the goat’s horns for the game, as he booted a routine DP ball that would have ended the inning into a FC that put runners on 1st and 3rd; Keuchel could not pick up his teammate as Starlin Castro doubled down the LF line, making it 2-0.
This was the last time Correa would look human.
Following that, Correa would:
- Homer to the opposite field
- Steal a base and score a run
- Turn a routine bleeder to the pitcher into an E1 through his sheer height
- Steal another base
- Score another run
- Make a nice play at SS
- Take Joe Girardi’s mother to a nice seafood dinner and NOT CALL HER THE NEXT DAY.
That was all the Astros would need. Keuchel overcame the early runs to mow down the Yankees for the remainder of 7 IP. Giles overcame the requisite HR to set down the side, and Gregerson looked every bit the closer that Hinch ordained him with a 1-2-3 9th.
1 win in the books. 161 to go.