Chicago White Sox spoil Astros’ World Series celebrations as Houston suffers a 3-2 defeat on MLS Opening Day
Andrew Vaughn lifted the tiebreaker, with two runs in the ninth inning, the Chicago White Sox to a 3-2 win over the defending World Champion Houston Astros in the season opener on Thursday night.
The game was tied at 1-all after a home run by Chicago’s Yasmani Grandal in the eighth. Ryan Pressley (0-1) walked Tim Anderson with one out in the ninth before Louis Robert Jr.’s single.
Vaughn then belted a double on a line drive that sailed over the head of jumping second baseman Mauricio Dupont and into center field to put the White Sox ahead.
Pedro Grifoll made his managerial debut after spending the last 10 seasons as a manager in the Royals organisation. snapped a streak of 10 consecutive wins for the Astros in slots.
The Chicago White Sox beat the defending champion Houston Astros on Opening Day
Andrew Vaughn (25) hit the White Sox first with a G0-Ahad RBI pair in the ninth
White Sox ace Dylan Cease allowed 2 hits and a run with 10 hits through 6 1/3 innings pitched in his first Opening Day. Kendall Grafman (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth to get the win.
Reynaldo López allowed a game-high solo home run to the second in right field to Yordan Alvarez with one out in the ninth but finished with the save.
Stops had retired 19 in a row, with Houston’s only base runner coming in the lead off Jeremy Peña, when he slammed Álvarez on a leadout with one out in the seventh.
Jose Abreu, who spent his entire nine-year career with the White Sox before signing with the Astros this offseason, followed with a single to chase down Cease.
He was replaced by Aaron Boomer, who walked Kyle Tucker to load the bases. A wild pitch with two outs allowed Alvarez to score, putting Houston up 1-0.
Yoán Moncada hit a ball that Abreu could not handle at first base for an error in the eighth.
The ball rolled into right field, but Moncada was thrown to third down. Chicago contested, but the call was upheld.
There were two outs when Grandal reached off Rafael Montero’s volley to the benches at right center.
Framper Valdez allowed six hits and struck out four in five scoreless innings on his first straight Opening Day for Houston.
The White Sox had early scoring opportunities against Valdez, but got out of trouble. Eloy Jiménez retired with the bases loaded to finish fifth.
The Astros opened the season without star second baseman Jose Altuve, who was out for at least two months after breaking his right thumb in the World Baseball Classic.
Dupont filled in for him, marking the first time since 2011 that Altuve was not the team’s second baseman on Opening Day.
Elvis Andrus cheers next to Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena during the fifth inning
White Sox players celebrate their Opening Day by upsetting the defending champions
(tags for translation) Daily Mail