Chris Bassitt will be the first to admit when a lineup he faces is a headache. That was the case Thursday in the A’s 8-1 Opening Day loss to the Houston Astros at the Coliseum.
“I felt really good, I felt my stuff was really good, it was just more so — I mean, two walk, a hit batter and I think two of the three scored,” Bassitt said. “You can’t give free passes to that team, or any of the other good lineups, and I did that, unfortunately.”
In 5 1/3 innings Thursday, Bassitt gave up four hits with three earned runs, and two walks, striking out three.
Houston bats were on fire too.
Astros third baseman Alex Bregman went 2-for-4 with a home run and the rest of the lineup burned through Oakland pitchers. After Bassitt, Houston faced five pitchers with Adam Kolarek and Reymin Guduan in particular struggling on the mound.
Yordan Alvarez had three RBI and Michael Brantley went 3-for-4 with a homer.
The pitching for the Astros also was stellar as Zack Greinke got his first career Opening Day win.
“He just kept us off-balance with the slider and mixed in that curveball, being able to put his heater on both sides of the plate,” A’s right fielder Chad Pinder said after the game. “He’s Zack Greinke for a reason, and he pitched a great game.”
In six scoreless innings, Greinke struck out four while giving up three hits. He didn’t walk any A’s hitters.
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Astros manager Dusty Baker said he believed Greinke was in midseason form and even was expecting Greinke to stop at five innings.
Despite the boos A’s fans greeted the Astros with all evening, it didn’t seem to hinder Houston. Not even a little bit.