Five in a Row! Astros Sweep Baltimore Orioles 3-0 in series

Traffic was bumper to bumper in downtown Houston which could only mean one thing: everyone heading to the Astros game on Sunday. Parking lots were full and Space City and Astros jerseys could be seen braving the full blast of Houston’s summer heat. Astros’ baseball was in full effect!

The expectation was high for game 3 with the Baltimore Orioles. The Astros have shown strong performance and dominance in the last 4 games with 2 wins against the Chicago White Sox and now 2 wins against the Orioles. Winning today would be a sweep against a formidable team who came out strong at the start of the season with dominating performances against several teams including the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, and Minnesota Twins.

Fueled by the anticipation and enthusiasm of waiting for the game to start, the atmosphere was electric. Cheers and chants echoed the stadium, creating unified roars of “Let’s Go Astros” and the call and responses became more fun as it as it got clearer in the rhythm.  It felt like a full stadium with over 37,000 in attendance. Did I mention there were princesses? No, for real! It was Princess Day at the stadium- with over 10,000 tierras given out to the crowd. I must say I saw some of the cutest Disney princesses in the most royal and creative garb.

Let the game begin….

Framber Valdez was the starting pitcher for the Astros. He had 2 quick outs with the Baltimore Orioles’ Adley Rutschman grounding out and Ryan Mountcastle striking out on the swing. The crowd was so pumped literally calling the outs with the referees. Valdez would close out the top of the inning with no one scoring.

With Jose Altuve igniting the crowd with his theme song signaling, it was the little Disney princesses cheering and pointing at the screen that got everyone’s attention. Unbeknownst to the crowd, each Astros team player picture was turned into an animated prince on the scoreboard. The picture had the full attention of the stadium until you heard the crack of Altuve’s bat as he hit a homerun on a fly ball to center field. With fans on their feet cheering as he rounded each base, we all stayed standing just in time for Alex Bregman to double on a line drive to right field. It was electric! By the end of the 1^st inning, the Astros would score 4 runs and the sound of the stadium was more like the ending of a winning game versus the end of the 1^st inning.

It dulled down a bit when the Baltimore Orioles’ Auston Hays was walked during the top 2^nd inning. Then, Jorge Mateo hit a ground ball forcing an out on Hays on second base. This set the pace for 2 more outs after a line out to right field and a strike out on a foul tip. It was a quick inning with exceptional pitching from Valdez and great fielding by Pena and Joey Loperfido. The inning would close with no one scoring.

It would be an intense back and forth, full of foul balls and strike outs, throughout the 3^rd inning and up to the top of the 4^th inning. Amid the cheers and applause, fans exchanged enthusiastic opinions on Astro’s Maurico Dubon, a growing fan favorite. Dubon is a known utility player who can flex his skill at most positions causing key plays and stability in rough innings. The commentary focused on the trust he has gained with the coaches to be the “go to” in pivotal moments that has led to many opportunities for the team.  This game was no different, Dubon was holding down first base and catching several pop ups and fouls to keep momentum at a minimum. We can only conclude he needs more time to develop but fans would be more excited to see him in a permanent position than back-filling for those injured and resting. Conversations would soon be interrupted by Cesar Salazar hitting a single to right field. The Astros would end the 4^th inning with scoring a run making it 5-0 lead with Astros up going into the 5^th inning.

Though the 5^th inning was short due to the well-managed nature of both teams, the 6^th inning literally lifted the crowd to its feet. After a ground out by Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson, Valdez pitches what looked like a curve ball to Jordan Westburg who launched a ball, which many of us lost in the lights/sun, to left, center field. It was a homerun. Making it now a 5 -1 game, Astros leading. Valdez and the team closed the inning out with 2 consecutive outs to slow down the Orioles momentum.

In response, the Orioles started the inning with a pitching change replacing Dillion Tate with Albert Suarez. Straight out the gate, Suarez gives Jose Altuve a beautiful pitch that becomes a line drive to center field which unfortunately results in Astros’ first out. After Bregman singles on a ground ball, Yordan Alvarez is up. Everyone was expecting him to be walked again so you could hear the murmur of boos under the cheers, but he got a chance to bat. Though he is struck out, the excitement of him getting the bat set the tone for the single by Diaz, a double by Pena, and the Astros going up by 2 with Bregman and Diaz making it home. The crowd went wild! Parents were grabbing the noise cancellation headphones for the little ones. Strangers were high fiving and orange towels were flying.

By the 8^th inning, fans were engaged in deep discussions sharing their predictions of a potential sweep. Others were riddled with superstition that it was too soon to say anything aloud. The announcer was pumping everyone up by getting everyone on their feet to stretch and cheer. With the Astros switching out pitchers, Bryan King for Framber Valdez, it added to the anticipation that an Astros win was quite possible. Valdez solidifies the fans’ confidence by unleashing a series of pitches that resulted in getting 3 consecutive outs.

At the bottom of the 8^th, the Baltimore Orioles switched out their pitcher in hopes of a similar result. However, Jose Altuve had other plans. He singles on a line drive to left field and the crowd’s cheers begin to shake the stadium. Bregman singles on a drive to center field and Altuve advances to 2^nd. The screen ignites the crowd by flashing the beloved Bobby Dynamite, the Astros train conductor. Adults and children alike were pointing to the screen to anticipate a home run. Altuve rounded each base and scored with the 2^nd out. The Astros ended the inning up 8- 1, and would subsequently, win the game with Baltimore being shut out at the top of 9th inning.

As “Astros Win” flashed on the screen and the fireworks started going off, it was official that Astros swept the Baltimore Orioles! It was impossible to tell that this was a mid-season game, it felt like a world series win. The joy, camaraderie amongst fans, and elatedness of everyone leaving the stadium, it was a sigh of relief and immense happiness all in one. This victory is the catalyst fans needed to build the resilience needed for the rest of the season. We are all in and looking forward to another win on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies.