*Photo from Seattle Sports - My Northwest*
What a way to win your first game of the season. Kyle Tucker homered twice, Ronel Blanco tossed a no hitter, and the Houston Astros defeated the Toronto Blue Jays with a 10-0 victory on Monday night in Houston.
After being swept in their first series of the season against the New York Yankees, the Astros picked up their first win of the season with a bang. Blanco needed just over 100 pitches to get it done, the first no hitter of the season and first since Michael Lorenzen did it on August 9, 2023.
Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena said of Blanco that "I’m just so happy he went out and did that. He’s such a hard worker. He’s quiet, a hard worker that goes about his business and goes out and competes. He had a daughter not too long ago and I know it’s a special moment for him."
Tucker got the Astros on the board immediately, cranking a two run home run in the first inning. Yainer Diaz followed that up with a solo home run to make it 3-0 Astros. Pena hit a solo home run of his own in the second inning before Jake Meyers hit an RBI single in the 4th inning, making it 5-0 when Chas McCormick scored.
Pena added two more RBI's to his count in the 6th inning, hitting a single that scored McCormick and Abreu to make it 7-0 Astros. Tucker hit his second home run of the game in the 7th inning, also a two run shot to make it an 9-0 game. Diaz then hit his second longball of the game as well, making it a 10-0 game.
Blanco was making just his 8th major league start and delivered a no hitter. He walked two hitters and struck out 7 hitters over the 9 innings pitched, throwing the 17th no hitter in Astros history. The last Astros no hitter was Framber Valdez on August 1, 2023 against the Cleveland Guardians.
Astros manager Joe Espada said of Blanco's no hitter "Impressive performance. We needed that, and Blanco stepped up and gave us an incredible start and performance. His changeup, changing speeds, it’s a pretty good lineup over there. What a week he’s had. Happy for him and his family."
Bowden Francis started for the Blue Jays and was tagged for 7 runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings pitched. Genesis Cabrera pitched the next inning and allowed 3 runs. Trevor Richards got the next two outs before utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa pitched a scoreless inning in the 8th.
Toronto outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said after the game that "Baseball, this game makes no sense. Makes no sense whatsoever. We’ve got a lot of talent in this clubhouse, guys with some incredible resumes. You don't think we'd ever get no-hit. In baseball, momentum works in crazy ways. And they had all the momentum tonight and we just couldn't get anything going, any facet of the game for us."
The series continues on Tuesday night. Valdez starts the middle game for the Astros as they look to get the series win, while the Blue Jays try to tie the series with Jose Berrios taking the mound.
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