Astros Regroup After Disastrous Opening Night To Win Series

Astros' fans are celebrating after their Opening Series victory
this weekend against the Colorado Rockies.

What a great start to the 2012 season for the Houston Astros, who faired well against the Rockies throughout Opening Weekend and began the season with an overcapacity crowd at Minute Maid Park on Friday.  The Astros kicked off Friday's game with a bang, as they took an early 1-0 lead off Carlos Lee's single in the 1st inning.  The Astros were pitching and hitting well until they found trouble in the 3rd inning.  Wandy Rodriguez allowed three runs, four hits, and an error to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead.  Houston responded with back-to-back home runs by Carlos Lee and Brian Bogusevic to tie up the score in the 4th, but errors continued to be an issue.  Houston finished with four errors on the night and Colorado escaped with a 5-3 victory in Houston on Opening Night.

Opening Night was not a success for the Astros, but the following two nights would be.  Saturday night also began in Houston's favor as Jordan Schafer hit a 1st inning home run, but this would be a different type of night for Astros' fans.  They worked the Rockies' pitching staff and prevented another collapse.  Houston finished with seven runs on ten hits and forced Jamie Moyer, the Rockies' 49-year old starting pitcher, out of the game after five innings.  The great performance allowed Houston to win their first game of the young 2012 season.

The Opening Weekend was 2/3 of the way complete as the series' decisive game was played this afternoon.  The game featured a pitching battle between starters Bud Norris and Juan Nicasio.  Hits and runs were hard to come by as each team recorded only two hits through the first three innings.  The 4th inning would slightly change the course of the game as both teams scored their first runs of the game.  The Rockies struck first with a 2-run home run by Wilin Rosario, but the Astros responded with a Carlos Lee RBI double that scored Altuve.  The Rockies were in control until their starting pitcher was relieved in the 8th inning.  A throwing error and a 2-out double gave Houston the lead for good, and ultimately a 3-2 victory this afternoon.  With the victory, the Astros won their first opening series since 2006, and are over .500 for the first time since July 29, 2009.  The Astros continue their six-game homestand against Atlanta tomorrow at Minute Maid.