HOUSTON — The Houston Astros overcame a rough debut from Tatsuya Imai with a late offensive surge, scoring five runs in the eighth inning to beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-7 on Sunday at Daikin Park and salvage a split of the four-game series.
Imai’s long-awaited regular season debut opened with a highlight—he struck out Mike Trout looking—but unraveled quickly. In the second inning, walks to Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel set the table, Trout singled, and Jorge Soler cleared the bases with a double to tie the game at four. Jo Adell followed with an RBI single to give the Angels the lead. Imai exited after 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on three hits while walking four and striking out four. The command concerns that followed him into the season showed up early.
Houston had built a 4-0 lead in the second inning before things turned. Joey Loperfido doubled to open the frame, and two walks loaded the bases for Christian Vázquez, who delivered a two-run single. Yordan Alvarez added an RBI single, and a Yoán Moncada throwing error brought home another run.
The Angels answered again in the fourth. Travis d’Arnaud doubled, and Neto followed with a two-run homer to put Los Angeles back in front, 6-4. Christian Walker erased the deficit in the fifth with a two-run double, scoring Isaac Paredes and Jose Altuve.
The game shifted in the eighth. Cam Smith was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a Vázquez sacrifice bunt. After Jeremy Peña flew out, the Angels intentionally walked Alvarez. Paredes made them pay with a go-ahead two-run double to right. Nick Allen entered as a pinch runner, and Altuve added an RBI double to extend the lead to 9-6.
Bryan Abreu took the mound in the ninth and ran into trouble—a walk, a wild pitch, and a Schanuel RBI single cut the lead to 9-7—but Bryan King came on to strike out Soler and secure the win.
AJ Blubaugh earned the victory with two scoreless innings in relief.
Houston moves to 2-2 on the season and will open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox on Monday at Daikin Park.
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