2019 Opening Day. Photo by Paul Muth.
Today crept up on me.
As with everyone else, a lot of priorities have changed. When I sat down to punch through my weekly writers block, it dawned on me.
Today was supposed to be Opening Day.
After what seemed like the longest off-season in the history of baseball, I'm confident in assuming that most Astros fans were ready to be done with their Queen Cersei-esque walk of shame winter and get back to actual pitches and swings.
Today was supposed to be a fresh start. It's the one day where everyone's team still has a shot to go all the way. It's the day you call in from work, and the day kids play hooky from school.
The return of baseball for me is an annual return to balance. It's my springtime Christmas. It's a resumption of normalcy. A lot of people complain about the length of a baseball season. I am certainly not among them.
But today the gates will remain closed. The lights will stay off. The banners will remain veiled, and the wait will continue.
And it absolutely should. The heartbreaking part of all of this is that it is absolutely necessary. It's ironic how a situation can highlight how much sports are engrained into our culture, while simultaneously showing us how trivial sports can be in the bigger picture.
Baseball will be back. And when it is, we'll welcome it warmly. But in order to ensure that, we all have to be responsible, even if it's uncomfortable.
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Oswald Peraza hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to help the Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing skid by beating the Houston Astros 4-1 on Saturday night.
Peraza entered the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and hit a bases-loaded fly ball to deep right field that eluded the outstretched glove of Cam Smith. It was the fourth straight hit off Astros closer Bryan Abreu (3-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 12 appearances.
The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
Kyle Hendricks allowed one run while scattering seven hits over six innings. He held the Astros to 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, the one hit coming on Jesús Sánchez’s third-inning infield single that scored Jeremy Peña.
Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.