Astros rookie Tom Griffin held the Royals to three hits over six innings as Houston beat Kansas City 5-1 in Cocoa.

Griffin, just 21 years old, had yet to pitch in an official major-league game, although he would go on to enjoy a 14-year career in the bigs. Singles by Pat Kelly and George Spriggs produced a Kansas City run in the first, but the Royals could do nothing else offensively.

Roger Nelson, starting for Kansas City, pitched four innings and allowed two runs in the third but was otherwise solid. Chris Zachary pitched two scoreless innings before giving up three runs in the seventh inning to give the Astros an insurmountable lead.

Today’s birthdays: Mike Jackson (1946), Dee Brown (1978), Jake Odorizzi (1990), Eric Stout (1993)