The Houston Astros had a challenge on their hand opening up the new season against Juan Soto and the New York Mets. New York had built a ton of momentum after signing the four-time all-Star to a record-breaking deal.
However, Framber Valdez had a great outing for Houston, tying up the opponent's bats for much of the game. He went seven innings, giving up zero runs on four hits while striking out four batters.
Houston went on to win the game by a score of 3-1 in front of their home fans. Afterward, the social media team posted on Instagram with a message to the rest of the league.

"Y'all missed us?"
For the hitters that the Mets have, it was more than impressive to see Valdez shut them down. He was able to keep Francisco Lindor, Mark Vientos, and Luisangel Acuna hitless.
On the offensive side of things, Houston was able to push runs across the plate when it mattered. They only out-hit New York by one, but were able to put up three runs opposed to one.
Jake Meyers pushed a run across the board in the second inning. Yainer Diaz then hit an RBI single in the following inning. The runs were capped off by a Jeremy Pena RBI that same inning.
After Valdez went seven innings, Houston turned to their bullpen. Bryan Abreu handled the eighth inning while Josh Hader handled the ninth to close out the game.
Juan Soto and the Mets were no match for the new-look Astros on Thursday

The Astros came into the new season after trading away a key member and letting another walk in free agency. This is the first time in years that neither Kyle Tucker nor Alex Bregman is a member of this club.
Tucker is now a member of the Chicago Cubs, and Bregman a member of the Boston Red Sox. However, that did not deter this team from coming out and handing the Juan Soto and the Mets a loss.
Jose Altuve was able to hold his ground in his new position of left field. Rookie slugger Cam Smith also held his ground in right field and got his first MLB hit during his first at-bat.
While many were down on this club, they proved a lot of people wrong on Thursday. This is still a team you cannot rule out.