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The Houston Astros gave baseball some early attention last night after taking down the Texas Rangers 8-2 to open the 2013 MLB regular season. New year, new logo, and a new league seemed to be the recipe for a whole new team for the Houston Astros. Bud Norris got the win for Houston, giving up five hits in five innings pitched. Justin Maxwell’s two run RBI triple gave Houston the lead in the fourth inning, and the Astros didn’t look back after that.
The Rangers fought back with RBIs from David Murphy and Nelson Cruz, but a three-run homer from Rick Ankiel in the sixth inning turned out to be too much for Texas to overcome.
As for Opening Day itself, Yankee Stadium will play host to the most historic rivalry in baseball to start off the afternoon games. The Red Sox travel to New York to take on the Yankees at 1 p.m. After missing the playoffs three years in a row, Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said that he embraces the underdog roll his team has this season.
As for the Yankees, Mariano Rivera will begin his last season today. Rivera missed all of 2012 with a torn ACL, but Yankee’s pitcher CC Sabathia isn’t worried; he expects Rivera to be as dominate as ever in 2013.
As for the rest of the schedule, the Miami Marlins travel to Washington to face the Nationals, the Mets host the Padres, the Cubs begin the journey to end their World Series drought at Pittsburgh and the Brewers host the Rockies.
Starting at 4 p.m., the Giants start their title defense in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, the White Sox welcome the Royals to the Windy City, the Twins take on the Tigers in Minnesota and the Angels and Reds square off in Cincinnati.
The Braves begin life without Chipper Jones against the Phillies under the lights in Atlanta, the Diamondbacks host the Cardinals and Oakland welcomes Seattle to round out Opening Day.
