Astros complete Opening Weekend with historic sweep of A's

Photo courtesy of Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

Rookie outfielder Chas McCormick put the Astros' opening series against the Oakland A's in the most simple terms. "Honestly, we crushed them from pitch one to the last pitch of the whole series."

Crushed is right. In their fourth straight drubbing of the A's, Houston defeated Oakland by another lopsided score of 9-2, clinching their first series win and first series sweep of the new season on Sunday afternoon.

The Astros pulled ahead early and never looked back. Houston earned a run in the first inning, courtesy of a Kyle Tucker home run, before snagging two runs in each of the second and third innings.

Houston grabbed an early 5-1 lead. Astros' starter José Urquidy labored early, but was able to limit Oakland to one run through 4.1 innings, striking out five. He was the first pitcher to throw 100 pitches for the Astros this season.

The Astros, faced with the prospect of having a taxed bullpen finish the game, needed length from the long-relievers to finish off the game. Dusty Baker turned to Brandon Bielak -- a starter at times for Houston last season -- to get the job done, and Bielak more than delivered.

In 4.2 innings pitched, Bielak threw a perfect relief outing, striking out four and not allowing a single baserunner to reach for Oakland.

Dusty Baker had nothing but praise for the young righty after the game. "Brandon really came in and shut the door. He really saved our staff."

Another player who might have helped Bielak slam that door shut on Oakland was Chas McCormick, who put the proverbial nail in the coffin in Oakland in the sixth innings. After notching his first major league hit in the game prior, McCormick notched his first big league home run with a three-run shot to put the Astros up 9-2.

McCormick, who had his parents in attendance, said he couldn't stop smiling as he rounded the bases. "Super cool, first major league home run... High-fiving everyone, jumping with them was one of the coolest things ever in the dugout."

It was indeed a super cool weekend for the Astros in Oakland, who set records to begin the season. Houston outscored Oakland 35-7 in the series, 35 being a record number of runs scored through the first four games of the season. The Astros also became the first team since the 2003 New York Yankees to score 8+ runs in each of their first four games.

"We’re a great team -- defense, offense," McCormick added. "We were all just clicking for the four games and it was cool to watch and cool to be a part of. I hope we keep this going."

Houston moves to 4-0 with the win. Their next series will kick off in Anaheim, against Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels. First pitch is scheduled for 9 PM CT.