Yordan Alvarez's towering shot in opener ruled foul

HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez might have been robbed of a home run in his first at-bat of the season — by the ballpark.

The Houston Astros slugger hit a towering shot toward the right-field foul pole that hit the roof scaffolding of Daikin Park in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.

Alvarez pulled a pitch from Jose Soriano and watched the ball sail high until it ricocheted off a horizontal rafter over right field and landed in foul territory.

It was ruled a foul ball, the Astros challenged the call, and after replay review, the call was upheld.

Alvarez later struck out swinging for the second out of the inning.

Houston’s stadium has a retractable roof, but it was closed for opening day despite sunny conditions in the low 80s. The Daikin Park roof is rarely hit and usually occurs on towering foul balls hit near or behind home plate.

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