March—April
Opening Series, March 27–29 vs New York Mets: Houston won series, 2–1
The New York Mets and Houston Astros, MLB's 1962 National League expansion duo, had never faced each other on Opening Day in 63 prior seasons. Framber Valdez (1–0), making his fourth consecutive Opening Day start for Houston, [Note 3] tossed seven scoreless innings and closer Josh Hader struck out Juan Soto with two on and two outs in the ninth to seal the Astros' 3–1 win over the Mets. The save was the 200th of Hader's career. In the second inning, rookie Cam Smith—who was making his major league debut—hit an opposite-field single in his first at bat off the first pitch from starter Clay Holmes for his first major league hit. [62] New York won the middle game, catalyzed by Soto's first home run for the Mets, leading a 3–1 score. Soto's blast came off starter Hunter Brown (0–1), who struck out seven over six innings, allowing four hits and all three runs (two earned). [63] In the series finale, Jeremy Peña homered and Yordan Alvarez' tiebreaking double in the sixth—also his first hit of the season—lifted the Astros to a 2–1 win. Hence, the Astros took two of three in the season-opening series. Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti (1–0) yielded a first-inning double to Juan Soto, and just one run with five strikeouts over six innings, in what culminated as the only hit of a combined one-hitter. In the ninth, Hader walked Soto as the leadoff batter before retiring the next three bfor his second save. [64]
March 31–April 2 vs San Francisco Giants: HOU lost series, 3–0
Ryan Gusto made his major league debut on March 31, [65] tossing two scoreless innings in relief. He entered in the seventh inning and retired Matt Chapman with a swinging strikeout, his first in the major leagues. [66] Added to the major league roster to start the previous season's finale versus the Cleveland Guardians, [67] that game was cancelled due to rain and no makeup was played. [68] Led by home runs from Wilmer Flores, LaMonte Wade Jr., and Luis Matos in the finale, the Giants swept the Astros at home with a 6–3 win. It was the first series sweep of Houston by San Francisco since August 28–30, 2012, the last season in which the Astros were a member of the National League. [69]
April 3–6 at Minnesota Twins: HOU won series, 2–1
In Houston's 2025 road opener in Minneapolis, Christian Walker and Jeremy Peña started the second inning with back-to-back home runs, and Brendan Rodgers stroked three hits and three RBI to lead the Houston Astros to a 5–2 win. Hunter Brown (2–0) yielded two runs, five hits, and no walks, with eight strikeouts in six innings, including retiring 15 of the last 16 batters faced. Jose Altuve struck out in all five plate appearances, the first time he had struck out as many time times in one game in the major leagues. [70] It was Walker's first home run as an Astro. [71] Altuve bounced back the following game, cranking his 41st career leadoff home run among three hits and no strikeouts. However, the Twins scored 6 times in fourth inning, benefitting from lost command by Arrighetti (1–1) and two errors—include one by Altuve in left field—to win the middle game, 6–1. [72] The Astros won the third game, 9–7, in their first extra innings contest of the year, and biggest comeback for the season to date. In the fourth inning, the Twins led, 7–1. The Astros rallied starting in the fifth inning, totaling eight runs, capped Yordan Alvarez' game-tying 9th-inning home run, his first of the season. Houston scored the final two and game-winning runs in the tenth. [73]
April 11–13 vs Los Angeles Angels
In the series opening game, the Astros won with a season-high to date scoring output at 14–3, led by Yainer Díaz' first career grand slam. The Astros scored nine times with two outs. Cam Smith produced each of his first major league home run, double, and stolen base,. Paredes reached base in each of his last 5 plate appearances, including his first home run in an Astros uniform. The Astros, who entered the contest with the majors' lowest team batting average, amassed 16 hits. Díaz' slam was first for the Astros since José Abreu's in a 12–3 win over the Texas Rangers on September 6, 2023. [74] [75]
