NEW YORK — Greg Bird didn’t let Yankees fans sour his Opening Day.

The first baseman heard a lot of boos during his struggles last season, so a few more on Thursday after his first two strikeouts and a lot more after his third K didn’t faze him.

During good times and bad, and there has been a lot more bad the last few years, Bird focuses on staying keeping his emotions in check. It’s a cliché, but he doesn’t allow himself to get too high or too low.

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This approach led to Bird saving face during his fourth and last time at the plate during the Yankees’ 7-2 season-opening win over the Baltimore Orioles.

After three whiffs, Bird was down 0-2 in the count and facing lefty reliever Paul Fry leading off the eighth inning, then got a hanging slider over the plate that he didn’t miss.

BAM!

Bird showed off his sweet lefty swing by blasting one over the right-center field wall to tack on one more insurance run.

Asked about his final at-bat, Bird responded, “I trust in myself, trust in my work, trust in my coaches, trust in my teammates. I didn't get it done early a couple of times, so you've got to bounce back and contribute a little bit. It was nice. Guys had good at-bats in front of me and I didn't come through. To bounce back there and help out, it's nice.”

Manager Aaron Boone loved seeing Bird make something of his day.

“Talk about salvaging two strikes there in that final at-bat,” Boone said. “He didn’t budge. I felt like he probably got rung up on a pitch that was maybe not on the plate (in the fifth inning), and he didn’t flinch or change his approach at all. He falls behind to the lefty 0-2 (in the eighth) and his body language, approach seemed unfazed. He took advantage of the mistake and gave us a nice, little cushion run there.

“I really like the way he dealt with everything on Opening Day. Shoot. I‘ve been there. You want to do something so bad. It’s hard to stay disciplined. And he did in his approach and he was rewarded for it.”

Bird never gets down on himself even though he hit under .200 two years in a row, even though he hasn’t done much since his short but sweet rookie season in 2015 due to injury after injury.

His secret to rebounding is staying even keel.

“If there's anything I've learned, that's what you've got to be,’ he said.

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.