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The Houston Astros are off to a slow start this season. Under newly appointed manager Joe Espada, the club is 2-6 after losing the first game of their four-game series against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Friday. Dusty Baker announced his retirement from his managerial stint after last season, prompting the Astros to appoint a new manager.
The rivalry between the two teams has grown intense since last season. The Rangers defeated the then-defending champions in the ALCS series. Prior to that, a good late-season stretch from the Astros helped them topple the Rangers from winning the division at the end of the regular season.
So when fans saw the Astros get defeated by the Rangers, they couldn't help but blame Espada for Houston's skid. Some fans also took the hilarious route to mock the loss:
"End the Joe Espada Experiment please," one fan said.
"RANGERS AND YANKEES OWN U," another user wrote.
Some fans considered the constant dominance of Adolis Garcia on the Astros as a way to vent their frustration:
"Your cheating team is absolute poverty 😂 Adolis Garcia owns you!" another fan said.
Rangers land humiliating 10-2 loss to Astros as Adolis Garcia continues his dominance over Houston
Not only in the 2023 ALCS series, Adolis Garcia took the Astros pitchers apart on Friday with a flurry of home runs that sent them packing.
The Rangers scored five runs in the second innings as they batted around. Garcia powered the innings with a three-run home run, giving the Astros the early chills in the game.
Astros starter Hunter Brown escaped cleanly after the bases were loaded in the first innings. However, the Rangers hitter didn't spare him in the second innings:
“He got ahead of some of their hitters, but just couldn’t put them away,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Tough time executing his breaking ball. When you got a lineup like that, once you get ahead you want to be able to execute your pitches, but the execution wasn’t there today.”
Brown gave up five earned runs, four walks and eight hits across three innings pitched:
“I think they hit some good pitches, but I also made a handful of bad ones, too, and they made me pay for both,” Brown said.
The rivalry will be on full display again on Saturday for Game 2 of the series.
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