The Houston Astros made their leap to the American League in some style, upstaging the Texas Rangers 8-2 to successfully open their new era in the Major League season-opener.
After spending a half-century in the National League, the Astros switched to the AL West this year to give baseball an even 15 teams in both leagues.
The change is a fresh start for the Astros, who are coming off consecutive 100-loss seasons but are hoping to redefine the franchise with a new manager, Bo Porter, and new uniforms.
The Rangers, too, unveiled a new-look roster without former MVP Josh Hamilton, catcher Mike Napoli and infielder Michael Young.
In front of an excited home Houston crowd at Minute Maid Park, the Astros made the most of their moment in the spotlight as they got their season underway a day ahead of the majority of teams.
Justin Maxwell and Rick Ankiel led the offence as the Astros opened the season in impressive fashion.
Maxwell had two runs and two RBIs on two hits, both triples, while Ankiel homered and drove in three, to back up 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball from Bud Norris. Erik Bedard tossed 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the save.
Nelson Cruz was two-for-three with an RBI for the Rangers, while Lance Berkman had two hits and a run.
Derek Lowe had just entered the game in relief of Matt Harrison, who suffered a tough start after his career-best 2012 season earned him a five-year extension with Texas.
"To come out with a win is perfect," Carlos Pena, the Astros designated hitter, said afterwards.
"To be part of it is really cool. To play our rivals here in Texas and to come out on top today, it's a treat."
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) US$175,000 1,000m
7.05pm: Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions (Dirt) $100,000 1,900m
7.40pm: Al Rashidiya Group 2 (T) $250,000 1,800m
8.15pm: Handicap (D) $135,000 2,000m
8.50pm: Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (T) $250,000 1,400m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) $135,000 2,410m.
TV (UAE time);
OSN Sports: from 10am
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Overview
Cricket World Cup League Two: Nepal, Oman, United States tri-series, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu
Fixtures
Wednesday February 5, Oman v Nepal
Thursday, February 6, Oman v United States
Saturday, February 8, United States v Nepal
Sunday, February 9, Oman v Nepal
Tuesday, February 11, Oman v United States
Wednesday, February 12, United States v Nepal
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
Keane on …
Liverpool’s Uefa Champions League bid: “They’re great. With the attacking force they have, for me, they’re certainly one of the favourites. You look at the teams left in it - they’re capable of scoring against anybody at any given time. Defensively they’ve been good, so I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go on and win it.”
Mohamed Salah’s debut campaign at Anfield: “Unbelievable. He’s been phenomenal. You can name the front three, but for him on a personal level, he’s been unreal. He’s been great to watch and hopefully he can continue now until the end of the season - which I’m sure he will, because he’s been in fine form. He’s been incredible this season.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s instant impact at former club LA Galaxy: “Brilliant. It’s been a great start for him and for the club. They were crying out for another big name there. They were lacking that, for the prestige of LA Galaxy. And now they have one of the finest stars. I hope they can go win something this year.”
