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Dynamite debut Astros open Enron Field with 6-5 victory over champs
Posted: Friday March 31, 2000 01:18 AM
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Houston Astros won, their fans had a good time, and New York Yankees pinch hitter Ricky Ledee became an instant Enron Field trivia answer. Daryle Ward's two-run homer in the eighth inning was the first home run by a Houston player as the Astros entertained a sellout crowd with a 6-5 comeback victory over the Yankees in the first game played at Enron Field on Thursday night. Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan threw out the first pitch and Texan Lyle Lovett sang the national anthem. Jeff Bagwell got the first hit in the new stadium and also doubled home the first two runs in the third inning. Fans were treated to outdoor baseball on grass for the first time since the Astrodome opened in 1965, and the weather cooperated with mild temperatures and clear skies. Ward, the Astros' 1999 Rookie of the Year, highlighted the eighth-inning comeback with a two-run homer over the short left-field fence.
Ledee started the Yankees sixth inning with a solo homer over the right field fence, the first home run in the new downtown facility before a sellout crowd 40,624. Paul O'Neill hit a three run-homer in the inning and Shane Spencer had an RBI single. The Yankees and Astros sized up the new facility prior to the game along with fans. Yankee's manager Joe Torre was especially interested in the hill in center field that rises at a 30-degree angle to the fence. The amenity was the idea of Astros president Tal Smith. "If Tal likes it so much, why doesn't he put it in his backyard?" Torre wondered. Told of Torre's comment, Smith responded: "I might do that. I like it well enough to do that, but I would have to extend my back yard." Houstonian Roger Clemens pitched five innings for the Yankees. He allowed five hits, two earned runs and struck out five. Former Yankees pitcher Dwight Gooden went five innings for Houston and didn't allow a run until the sixth. He walked three and struck out four. Jason Grimsley pitched two innings for the loss and Jay Powell got the victory.
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