Greinke, Astros impeccable in Opening Day win

Photo courtesy of Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Amidst a shower of boos, jeers, and other such profanities, the Astros blocked out the noise the only way they knew how -- winning.

In their first game of the 2021 season, the Astros cruised to a victory in the Oakland Coliseum on Opening Day, downing the division-rival A's by a score of 8-1.

Pitcher Zack Greinke, who started the game for Houston, was every bit the ace the Astros hoped he'd be to begin the season. Greinke allowed only one batter over the minimum through three, and held Oakland scoreless through his six innings of work.

Greinke would finish with a line of 6.0 IP, three hits and four strikeouts. Greinke noted the improvement in this year's start compared to his first start last year. "I guess it was better than last year. Last year, when I got tired, my pitches kept getting worse. I kept my pitches sharp and located them good and felt good."

The Astros bats were also kept in check in the early innings, a credit to Oakland's Chris Bassitt, who went tit-for-tat with Greinke to start the game. The Astros pushed across their first of the season in the fourth, on an RBI groundout from Alex Bregman that scored José Altuve, but Bassitt seemed poised for a deep run.

It wasn't meant to be. Houston came alive in the sixth inning, as Bassitt would give up a double to Bregman and a walk to Kyle Tucker before being pulled. Yusmeiro Petit came in to mitigate the damage, but only made it worse by giving up a two-out, two RBI double to Yordan Álvarez.

Oakland would score their first run of the season in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to two, but Houston struck back on back-to-back home runs courtesy of Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley.

Three more runs in the ninth would effectively seal the deal for the Astros, and secure their ninth straight win on Opening Day. They have not lost an Opening Day game since moving to the American League in 2013.

The story for the Astros, however, is what is likely to happen outside of the field in addition to their on-field performances. In what figures to be a recurring theme throughout the year, the Astros were showered with boos from the opposing fans, a sign of retaliation for the Astros' cheating scheme in 2017.

Those boos seemed to reach a crescendo when Carlos Correa was hit by a pitch, presumably on accident, by Chris Bassitt in the fourth inning.

Despite the noise, however, the Astros seemed determined to put it behind them. "This is a veteran team," Michael Brantley said after the game, when asked about the booing. "We've been to the World Series, we've been to the playoffs... They can boo, they can yell, do whatever they want. But at the end of the day we have each other's backs and that's all that matters."

Indeed it is.

Game two of Houston's four-game set against Oakland is scheduled for 8:40 PM CT. Former rookie phenom Cristian Javier will take the bump against Jesús Luzardo.