So-so debut means little in long run
The first night was supposed to be captured by cardboard boxes, stuffed with bright orange T-shirts, stacked five high at the entry gates.
Eager fans streaming in three hours before the first pitch.
Zack Greinke’s face everywhere inside Minute Maid Park, before he even threw an 87mph fastball for a perfectly placed first-pitch strike.
Then the fourth inning happened. And the sixth.
And by the time Colorado tied it at 5 on Tuesday night, the buzz of Greinke Day had been replaced by misfired offerings and the Astros’ newest ace barely hanging on.
Justin Verlander simply dominates. Gerrit Cole throws modern fire.
Greinke, 35, has become a throwback craftsman in his 16th
MLB season. He has the next two months and heat of October to prove his real value to the 2019 World Series favorite. But his local debut in orange and blue fizzled as the innings mounted and baserunners stacked up.
Greinke’s final, first line: Six innings, seven hits, five runs, two walks and two strikeouts on 99 pitches (56 strikes).
“I did all right,” said Greinke, who acknowledged that his fastball command was off. “A couple hard-hit balls. A couple not-great pitches.”
He slowed down and tried to search for a safe path as the Rockies waited, then attacked. A three-run home run by Raimel Tapia in the sixth — set up by a leadoff infield single and walk — was lifted to right-center field after Greinke offered an absurdly slow, 65-mph curve.
“He pitched his way in and out of traffic quite a bit,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
The Astros being the Astros, Carlos Correa answered with a solo shot to the edge of the rightfield stands after Greinke’s night was done.
Then Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon went deep, pulling the Rockies within 7-6, and the Astros were holding on again.
Then Correa broke through again, Yuli Gurriel homered for the second time Tuesday and 22nd this season, and it was 11-6 Greinke’s team.
His old club didn’t have a loaded lineup like this. His new one handed Greinke career win No. 198.
“We never really give a team an inning to breathe,” Hinch said.
If the new ace’s first night proved anything, it is that we have recently been spoiled by all the brilliance in this baseball town.
The franchise that used to always lose at the worst possible time finally won it all in 2017. Then they paired Cole with Verlander and won a franchiserecord 103 games. Then they won the trade deadline again and shook Major League Baseball to its core, adding Greinke to Verlander and Cole.
Good luck, rest of the league. George Springer, Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley. Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Josh Reddick, Correa and Gurriel. Wade Miley (10-4, 3.05) is the Astros’ No. 4 starter. Aaron Sanchez, the club’s fifth starting arm, played the lead part in a thrilling nohitter last Saturday.
Join the Astros. Get better. Win or contend for it all, every single year.
That’s how it goes now in Houston.
Greinke started sharp, then kept placing himself in danger and was consistently hit. But these Astros rarely miss when they swing for it all, and I will professionally assume that Greinke’s career numbers (198122, 3.36 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) will soon prove their worth.
He’s been one of the most respected pitchers in the sport since the middle of the last decade. There is a reason the rest of MLB freaked out the moment the news broke that Greinke was joining the Astros.
Locally: Yes, yes, yes! Nationally: No, no, no! “When you’re facing a guy with no tendencies and quality stuff, you know it’s going to be a good battle,” Brantley said. “You have to put a great swing on it to get a hit.”
The free orange shirts — with Welcome to Houston and Greinke’s name in all-caps on the front — were everywhere. And that was before Alvarez destroyed another baseball for a 2-0 lead.
Hours before Greinke’s first strike, Ken Dillon walked straight toward a rack that featured the jerseys of Verlander, Brantley, Alvarez and the new No. 21 in orange and blue. The seasonticket holder hoped to buy a Greinke jersey for Greinke Day, but the team store was out of his size.
“I thought they had a great chance beforehand,” said the 62-year-old Dillon, sounding like every Astros fan openly dreaming of another world title in early August.
Hot dogs were a dollar. Crawford Bock was $13.50. A replica of Greinke’s jersey was $130.
Pricey. But so are shining trophies in the Astros’ golden age.
“This is an exciting day for (Greinke), obviously, and the team, the organization and the fans,” Hall of Famer Craig Biggio said. “A trade like that is kind of like a Randy Johnson trade. That’s exactly what it is.”
The 1998 Astros fell short. The 2017 club overcame everything and everyone. If Greinke lives up to his name, this year’s team could be even better than the one that is immortalized by a golden banner on the left-field lightpole.
No wonder Hinch sounded so confident and appeared so at ease pregame.
“I don’t think this team needs any sort of motivation,” Hinch said. “We’re good in that department. We need to prepare, play and see where it takes us.”
The orange shirts will be saved.
If Greinke truly delivers, they’ll soon become more than just free souvenirs.