Our long drive from San Antonio put us in position to reach Houston at a reasonable time the next day. When we got to Houston, we discovered the humidity had returned to us, much to our dismay. Lucky for us, Houston also has a dome and for the second time in a row, we saw "inside" baseball.
The Minute Maid Park for the Astros was quite unlike any dome we had ever been in before. Many of my classmates remarked upon entering, how the stadium felt more like a mall as opposed to a ballpark. One of my classmates, Ryan A. and I, wandered around and found ourselves behind the dugout of the Astros, watching the Angels warm up. It was neat to be that close and per usual, Ryan A. had plenty of facts to help me be informed.
Our seats were up in the third balcony, behind home plate. It was a gorgeous view, especially because we could see the glass windows that make up part of the dome.
The Astros struck first in the third when Angels' pitcher Wilson ended up walking four batters. Add this to three singles, and you have some runs. The Astros scored five runs before the Angels brought in a new pitcher, Morin to help nab the last out. This was the first time in our trip when we saw a team go through the batting line up a full time (10 batters in the third inning).
The Angels tried to mount an attack, but were unable to do so until the eighth inning. Both Cowgill and Hamilton hit home runs, creating some excitement in the crowd.
But the home run show wasn't over. By this point, it was night enough and the temperatures had cooled to open the dome. See panorama below.
Beautiful, isn't it?
The Astros answered with two back to back solo home runs of their own. The first came from newly signed and making his MLB debut, Singleton. I had read about him earlier in the newspaper on the way to Houston so it was neat to see the man on the paper in the flesh. He hadn't had the strongest of debuts, committing to errors as the Astros' first baseman and striking out twice and getting on base via a walk. He stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park. The crowd went wild and the Astros' home run celebration began. On the far side of the dome, is a train and with every home run, the conductor hops in the train and drives it down a track. It was exciting to see the train move.
After Singleton was Carter and he also hit a home run. The crowd went wild. The momentum had fully shifted and when the Angels came to bat in the ninth, they couldn't pull together any more runs.
Post game, it was back to our hotel and right to bed. We had to drive to Arlington the next day. The baseball trip was nearing its final inning!
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