THE PUB CRAWL
Sports fans come together for inaugural ESPN 97.5 Houston Sports Pub Crawl
Oct 21, 2018, 3:08 pm
The Be Someone shirt was all over downtown. SportsMap staff
Normally you'd be hard pressed to find a UT and an Aggie fan sharing a beer on a fall Saturday afternoon. Splitting that same table with a few hockey fans just confuses the situation even further. And yet, up and down Main Street similar scenarios played out this past Saturday at the first annual Houston Sports Pub crawl.
Sponsored by ESPN 97.5, Sportsmap 94.1, and It's A Houston Thing apparel, the pub crawl began at 3 p.m. Participants arrived in a myriad of sports jerseys and checked in at Dean's Downtown where they received a special edition pub crawl t-shirt featuring The iconic “Be Someone” graffiti bridge overhanging I-45 south, as well as a matching cup, wristband, and koozie.
Upon checking in, pub crawlers were encouraged to check out any of the 10 participating bars including El Big Bad, Molly's, and Bovine and Barley where they enjoyed $3 drink specials throughout and had the opportunity to interact with local on air talent from ESPN 97.5.
“It's a really cool concept,” said pub crawl participant Hector Alfero. “It's cool to come out and meet fellow Houston sports fans over a beer.”
The pub crawl lasted three hours even after the check in tents were taken down most participants lingered up and down mainstreet well after 6 p.m.
“Me and my buddies usually drink when we're watching sports,” Alfero continued. “It only makes sense that we would come check out a sports related pub crawl.”
Judging from the enthusiastic reception the event garnered, it seems like it's only a matter of time before sports fans will have another opportunity to meet up and drink up.
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Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker each hit a three-run homer, and the Houston Astros outslugged the Baltimore Orioles 10-7 on Friday night.
A little something to make your day better pic.twitter.com/whwYikHwx2
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 22, 2025
Colton Cowser went deep for Baltimore, but the Orioles couldn’t pull this game out despite twice cutting a four-run deficit to one.
Steven Okert (2-2) got the win in relief for Houston, and the Astros — who are without injured closer Josh Hader and lefty reliever Bennett Sousa — held on. Houston signed veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel and he was with the team, but the AL West-leading Astros didn’t use him. Bryan Abreu struck out four to end the game and get his second save.
Rookie catcher Samuel Basallo, who agreed to an eight-year, $67 million contract before the game, did not start for the Orioles, but entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh and tagged out a runner at the plate the following inning.
Peña’s drive to left capped a four-run third that included two Baltimore errors. Jeremiah Jackson’s two-run double made it 4-3 in the fourth, but after Orioles starter Cade Povich (2-7) was pulled with two outs in the fifth, Yennier Cano came on and immediately gave up Walker’s homer.
The Orioles trailed 7-6 after Cowser’s solo shot in the seventh, but pinch-hitter Victor Caratini’s two-run double in the eighth made it a three-run game, and Peña’s comebacker bounced off reliever Corbin Martin and into shallow right-center field for an RBI double.
Orioles infielder Vimael Machín hit a solo homer in the eighth in his first big league plate appearance since 2022.
Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. allowed three runs in four innings after coming off the injured list (right finger blister).
Key moment
Jackson nearly made a diving catch on Caratini’s hit with two outs in the eighth, but once the ball got past him in right, two runs scored to make it 9-6.
Adding some insurance! pic.twitter.com/wKoPuHmenr
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 23, 2025
Key stat
The Astros improved to 15-8 in games in which their opponent starts a left-handed pitcher.
Up next
Cristian Javier (1-1) starts for Houston on Saturday night against Dean Kremer (9-9) of the Orioles.