Astros: players welcome George Springer home with 10 runs

The Houston Astros take game one of a three game set 10-4 with the Toronto Blue Jays, as they welcome home George Springer. While the former centerfielder of Minute Maid Park made his first return to Houston, the right-hander is currently on the injured list and won’t get the chance to play in the series.

Jose Urquidy dealt his way to a quality start over seven innings of work. The right-hander fanned two hitters and was living off contact outs with only four hits surrendered. Kent Emanuel finally saw more action, but the left-hander gave up two runs over two innings. With another game using less arms, Manager Dusty Baker must be on cloud 9.

As George Springer is welcomed home in open arms, the bats sent 10 runs his team’s way.

While the Astros banged in three runs on Ross Stripling, the former Los Angeles Dodger said he would throw at Houston players “in the right time and place.” This kind of behavior is idiotic in the game of baseball, as it leads to players getting injured for no apparent reason.

Springer has only played through four games this season, as leg injuries keep lurking around his performances. Although being in different colors, his former teammates welcomed their former leadoff hitter with open arms.

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Yuli Gurriel continued his tear with a four hit game, totaling three RBIs. The right-hander now has three three-hit games this season, which is tied for first in the major leagues. Gurriel didn’t have one three-hit game in 2020.

Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are roaring through slumps against weak starting pitching. Every bat including Kyle Tucker were hitting the grass well on Friday night’s game.

With 15 hits in this nine innings matchup, the Astros are continuing to tear their way through each team they’ve faced since they got to full strength once again. While all starters other than Myles Straw got a hit, every one from one to nine got on base at some point in this game in an absolute dominance of a possible Wild Card team.

The Astros are back on the field on Saturday against the Blue Jays at 6:10 p.m. With Framber Valdez progressing well in West Palm Beach, the left-hander threw 20 pitches (19 strikes) to hitters with good command. In other pitcher news, the Astros have signed another minor league arm in Brandon Lawson, who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016 (James Click connection).