The A’s dropped the first game of the series against the Astros, falling 5-1 on a sunny Memorial Day in Oakland.
The bats were quiet for most of the game, and it looked like they might get no-hit at one point, but the offense broke that up in the sixth with a double, and an RBI single prevented a shutout. And that was about it.
The starting pitching was solid, but on a day Astros starter Framber Valdez pitched a complete one-run game, there was no room for error.
Both teams starting pitchers were on their A-game early today, as both Paul Blackburn and Astros lefty Framber Valdez traded zeros for the first three innings.