Astros: Bielak gets shelled early, Straw gets on base

On Sunday, the Houston Astros fell to the Miami Marlins 6-1. As baseball opened for the first time since October, we saw a few players stand out in the navy blues, while also seeing some players shake the rust off.

The first spring training game for the Astros didn’t end as planned, as Brandon Bielak, who opened the game, gave up four runs before recording six consecutive outs. It is early in spring training, so we can’t be down on a player’s struggles on the mound or at the plate just yet.

The Astros fall early to the Marlins, after a long first inning from Bielak.

While hitting the bump for the first time since Sep. 26, Brandon Bielak struggled early as he gave up a home run to open the ball game; he would retire six consecutive batters after his rough start. The pitching game looked a little more relaxed within the arms of Ralph Garza Jr., Seth Martinez and Kit Scheetz, who was not scheduled to pitch today. Bryan Abreu was the only other pitcher to give up runs, as he let two touch home through two innings of work.

At the plate, Myles Straw safely touched first twice as the leadoff man, which has been his goal for this spring and the regular season. Straw made a good grab in centerfield as well but was replaced for prospect Jose Siri half-way through the game as expected. This is a great start for Straw, as he looks to be a reliable replacement for George Springer.

Jason Castro made his return to an Astros uniform for the first time since 2016, and in his first plate appearance, he slapped an RBI single for the only run of the game. Castro and Straw were the only Astros with two hits today, as Houston combined for seven total hits.

The Marlins slammed three home runs among their seven total hits, that combined for six runs across the shortened game (seven-innings). The Astros ended up not using Riley Ferrell and Ronell Blanco on the mound against the Marlins, although being scheduled to pitch.

The Astros will play the Washington Nationals in nine innings tomorrow at 12:05 pm CT. While all games will be broadcasted on 790 AM, only a select few will be televised on AT&T SportsNet SW.