DONE DEAL

Houston exhales: Astros make easiest offseason move yet

Houston exhales: Astros make easiest offseason move yet
They're back! Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Altuve's late homer helps lift Astros over Yankees in finale

In a move that brought a collective sigh of relief among Astros fans, the World Series champs announced they are bringing back their entire broadcasting team for the 2023 season.

On the TV side, Todd Kalas will return for play-by-play on AT&T SportsNet, along with color analyst Geoff Blum and, according to the team's press release, "sideline reporter" Julia Morales. We’ll discuss that baseball doesn’t have sidelines later. Blum and Morales will be entering their 11th season with the Astros, Kalas his seventh.

“Thrilled and honored to be back for another season of Astros baseball with my good friends Blummer and Julia along with the rest of our incredible Astros fan base. Crazy to think about how much success this team has had during our previous six years together, and looking forward to calling many more special moments in the future,” said Kalas.

Robert Ford and Steve Sparks will enter their 11th season calling games for the Astros Radio Network. During their time with the Astros, Ford and Sparks have broadcast six American League Championship Series and four World Series, 86 postseason games in all.

Of course Kalas, Blum and Morales don’t get to call postseason games because the national networks pay big bucks to inflict their announcers on Astros fans. It’s a great injustice.

Spanish language announcers Francisco Romero and Alex Trevino are entering their 16th season together on Univision, one of the longest-running radio duos in the big leagues.

“We are incredibly fortunate that our broadcast teams love this city and love our fans and that comes across. They’re genuine and authentic people. They don’t just broadcast our games, they are an important part of the Astros,” said Anita Sehgal, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications for the Astros.

They’re an important part of Astros fans’ lives, too. I watch or listen to a hundred Astros games every year and I never get tired of our broadcasters. That’s the thing about the Astros. From early spring to later and later each fall, when there’s nothing else on, there’s usually an Astros game. All told, the Astros play more than half the days of the year. Add ‘em up.

"What’s fun about watching TK, Blummer and Julia is they’re almost like a little family unto themselves. Geoff is like a big kid. TK has a good sense of humor, too, but he’s just an old soul. They complement each other very well. Julia, too. They’re good friends. They care about each other. Their banter is very natural. So you’re entertained when you hang out with them,” Sehgal said.

Sehgal added that the Astros haven’t finalized a slate of guest announcers for 2023 but she anticipates that Jeff Bagwell will be making visits to the TV broadcast booth.

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The Angels beat the Astros, 4-1. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

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.

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