Cole Clips Rangers, Fans 11 In Debut
Home Opener To Be Held Monday

Cole: No joke
(c) Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle
Gerrit Cole was a happy man throughout training camp. You would be too if you had been traded from the woeful Pirates to the current World Champions. On Sunday, Cole paid his first dividend in a Houston uniform by tossing seven innings of two-hit ball as the Astros crushed the Rangers, 8-2, to take three-of-four in the opening series.

Joey Gallo welcomed Cole to the American League with a solo homer in the first. That run held up through the first four innings but Derek Fisher smashed a triple to center field that keyed a two-run Astros rally in the fifth.

A double by Evan Gattis highlighted a two-run sixth and a two-run double by Carlos Correa sparked a three-run seventh to put the game on ice.

Meanwhile, Cole found a rhythm and mowed down 11 Rangers while allowing three walks and just one additional hit over seven frames. Cole finished at 102 pitches in his first outing of the season, popping the gun regularly with 97-mph heat.

Gattis drove in three to go with three hits while Jose Altuve also notched three hits to boost his early batting average to .563. Max Stassi enjoyed a two-hit performance with an RBI.

The 3-1 Astros return to Houston for the Opening Day home festivities Monday against the 1-2 Baltimore Orioles. Charlie Morton, one of the postseason heroes last year, will make his first appearance for the Astros in 2018 while the O's counter with righthander Chris Tillman. The first pitch will be at 6:10 Central at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros are not an April Fool's joke. They're the real deal.

- Bob Hulsey