Houston Astros get back to business after a tough offseason
By Dan Shedd
After the toughest offseason in Houston Astros history, the team finally got back to playing baseball and that is likely welcomed by fans.
Good news, Houston Astros fans. real baseball is back after an offseason that seemed to drag on forever with the constant coverage of the sign-stealing scandal. Now, it’s time to focus on getting ready for the season and hopefully bring back another World Series championship.
Yesterday’s game was rained out after just two innings of play, so today officially started spring training games for the Astros and Nationals. It started out with some class by the Washington Nationals who share their spring training facility with the Astros between the Nationals Ryan Zimmerman and his former manager Dusty Baker.
As for the game, the Houston Astros started Framber Valdez on the mound to start out the game. Even though Valdez only pitched two innings he did a pretty good job on the mound in such a short outing.
As with most spring training games, the Houston Astros used multiple pitchers and young players to give them some experience in a major league environment. After Washington Nationals Asdrubal Cabrera gave the Nats the lead in the 3rd inning, Houston Astros newcomer Drew Ferguson got the Astros on board with a double in the 5th inning, scoring Nick Tanielu.
However, that was all the Houston Astros could muster offensively today. The Houston Astros used multiple pitchers today, giving up two runs off eight hits, including the game-winning run for the Nationals by Brandon Synder in the 9th inning.
Despite the loss, Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker seemed encouraged by the play of the guys today:
Dusty Baker talks about Framber Valdez after a 2-1 loss to the Nats pic.twitter.com/c6AvwBA7pT
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 23, 2020
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Even though it’s just one game with a full season ahead. I’m so glad we’re back to playing baseball. This past offseason had to be the worst one for all Astros fans with the sign-stealing scandal and the fallout from that. Now it’s time to move forward and start playing baseball with one of the best lineups in the game.
Let’s go Astros! #ForTheH