Blanco (1-0) garnered the win against the Angels on Thursday, allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five batters over 5.1 innings.
It wasn't a breezy outing for the right-hander -- he threw just 59 of 94 pitches for a strike and dealt with plenty of traffic on the bases -- but he mostly got out of trouble when he needed to (including an inning-ending strikeout of Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded in the second.) Blanco had come out of the bullpen for each of his first 16 major-league appearances but will pitch as a starter for the time being with the Astros not getting their next day off until June 12. It remains to be seen how he will adjust to the role, as it's relatively foreign to him -- over eight minor-league campaigns, only 23 of his 191 appearances came as a starter.