Houston starts the season with a victory

Astros cruise past A's for Opening Day win

Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley of the Astros celebrating
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley celebrate a home run on Opening Day 2021

After coming a game shy of making their third World Series appearance in four years, the Astros left behind the pandemic-shortened 2020 season where they fell to the Rays in the ALCS and turned their attention to a new, clean 162-game slate. As far as the fans at Oakland Coliseum were concerned Thursday night, though, their reputation was anything but clean, as Houston began their 2021 regular season playing their first regular-season game in front of booing fans to start a four-game series against the A's. The Astros were able to weather the hostility, driving in enough runs to back up a solid start by Zack Greinke to start the year 1-0.

Final Score: Astros 8, A's 1

Astros' Record: 1-0, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Zack Greinke

Losing Pitcher: Chris Bassitt

Houston brings in the first runs

Both teams began the night quietly at the plate, with just a lone hit on each side through three innings. Houston fared better the second time through their lineup, starting with Jose Altuve, who led off the fourth with a walk, advanced to third on a double by Michael Brantley, then scored on an RBI-groundout by Alex Bregman, the first run of the season to give the Astros a 1-0 lead.

The reason for the quiet start for both offenses — an entertaining pitching matchup was unfolding against Chris Bassitt and Zack Greinke. While Bassitt allowed a run in the fourth, he was otherwise successful on the mound until the sixth, when he would be relieved after a one-out double followed by a walk. Both of those runs would eventually score, as later in the inning, Yordan Alvarez sent a fastball the opposite way off the left-field wall for a two-RBI double to extend the lead to 3-0.

Greinke cruises through six

For Houston, Greinke was on cruise control tossing six scoreless frames, during which he allowed only three hits and just one runner to make it to scoring position. It being just the first game of the season, Dusty Baker did not try to test him too far, going to his bullpen after six innings. Greinke's final line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 82 P.

Enoli Paredes took over in the seventh, allowing Oakland's first run of the night and season after a leadoff double would come around on a sac-fly to make it a 3-1 game. Paredes would toss more pitches than he bargained for but eventually completed the frame with only the one run allowed.

Astros get the Opening Day victory

Michael Brantley took the run right back in the top of the eighth, leading the inning off with a solo home run to push the lead back to three runs. Alex Bregman made it back-to-back homers in the next at-bat, crushing one of his own 418 feet to the left-field stands, extending the lead to 5-1. Houston would load the bases on two walks and a pitch into Yordan Alvarez's back but left them stranded to keep the score there.

Joe Smith, who opted out of the 2020 season, made his return to regular-season play, coming in out of the bullpen for the bottom of the eighth. He faced four batters, getting two outs while allowing two hits before left-handed Blake Taylor would come in to counter lefty Matt Olson, who struck out to end the frame.

In the top of the ninth, former-Astro Reymin Guduan loaded the bases with no outs after a single and back-to-back walks to start things off. Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez would both bring in runs on a sac fly, Michael Brantley scored on a wild pitch, and when the dust settled, it was now an 8-1 game. Ryne Stanek was given the bottom of the ninth with the large lead, which he would complete to finish off the win.

Up Next: The second of this four-game series will be another late start in the Central time zone, getting underway at 8:40 PM on Friday. Cristian Javier (5-2, 3.48 ERA in 2020) will look to build upon the success he found in 2020 for the Astros, starting on the mound opposite of Jesus Luzardo (3-2, 4.12 ERA) for the A's.

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The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

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