Astros fans enjoyed ex-Yankees' closer failing miserably in new role as Mets starter

ByEric Cole|
Cincinnati Reds v New York Yankees
Cincinnati Reds v New York Yankees | Luke Hales/GettyImages

Some rivalries transcend the traditional "who is wearing the uniform right now" boundary — the bad blood just runs that deep sometimes. For the Houston Astros, that rivalry is almost unquestionably the New York Yankees. They continue to cry foul about the sign stealing scandal in an attempt to cover for their own organizational failures over the last 15 years (and counting).

This is a hatred that flows both ways. Multiple high stakes playoff series against the same team have a tendency to create some hurt feelings and, the two fan bases trade barbs regularly. There is no love lost between the Astros and the Yankees, and that's not going to change anytime soon.

Even former Yankees are not immune from Astros fans' ire. Former Yankees closer turned New York Mets starter, Clay Holmes, struggled on Opening Day and Astros fans were loving the overall experience.

Now with the NY Mets, Astros fans were loving watch former Yankees pitcher Clay Holmes fail

Baseball has a funny way of coming full circle, and for Astros fans, Holmes was obviously a familiar opponent on the mound. In his career, Holmes has 11 appearances against Houston and with a rather impressive 1.84 ERA. This includes Thursday's Opening Day performance.

Thankfully, Holmes' dominance of the Astros didn't extend to his time with the Mets. Not only did he fail to finish the fifth inning, but Holmes walked four batters and was extremely fortunate to only give up three runs. As an added bonus, the Mets' offense was basically a no-show and Josh Hader was able to strike out Juan Soto, another former Yankee, to end the game. Absolutely delicious.

For those wanting to see the Astros-Yankees rivalry really come to a head, you will have to wait until early-August when Houston travels to Yankee Stadium. However, their decimation of a couple of player who used to wear pinstripes should help hold fans over until then. It may seem petty, but part of the fun of baseball is finding real villains to root against, even if they end up with new teams.

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