Author: Tom

2002 – Pinch-hitter Gregg Zaun blasts a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth off Byung-Hyun Kim to stun the Diamondbacks, 7-4. Octavio Dotel is the surprise winner. Lance Berkman and Brad Ausmus also go deep. 

1966 – Joe Morgan becomes the first Astro named to start in an All-Star Game. Unfortunately, Morgan had broken his kneecap three days earlier and is unable to play. He was hitting .319 at the time of his injury. On the field, Houston loses at Pittsburgh, 4-3, but remain a surprising fourth in the National League race.

2014 – Jose Altuve smacks three hits and steals two bases in a 6-4 victory against Detroit. Matt Dominguez and Carlos Corporan also contribute three hits apiece. Altuve becomes the first big leaguer to swipe more than one base in four consecutive games since the ill-fated Ray Chapman did it in 1917. 

1987 – Kevin Bass becomes the first Astro to collect four extra-base hits in a game. He gets a “cycle plus one”, legging out his second double for his final hit of the game after earlier hitting a homer and a triple. Houston wins, 6-5, over the Giants as Larry Andersensaves it for Jim Deshaies. 

1992 – Benny Distefano smacks a pinch-hit three run triple off Rob Dibble in the bottom of the eighth to stun the Reds, 4-3. Al Osuna gets the gift victory. 

1992 – A morning earthquake shakes the Astros before an 8-2 loss in Los Angeles. Willie Blair is rattled for five runs early. Ken Caminiti is one of the few Astros focused as he pounds out four hits. 

1974 – Doug Rader is roasted in San Diego during “Short Order Cooks Night”. Earlier in the year, Padres owner and McDonald’s magnate Ray Kroc gave the fans a Quarter-Pounder of his mind when he seized the PA system to publicly grill his players. Rader said, “He can’t treat us like a bunch of cooks”. Doug gets the last chance, trailing 5-4 with two outs in the ninth. He flies out to John Grubb as Houston’s hopes melt in defeat. 

1983 – Dickie Thon swats two home runs to carry Houston to a 4-2 victory over Atlanta. He hits a solo shot off Craig McMurtry then a two-run blast off Terry Forster to give the Astros the cushion they need. 

1979 – The Astros witness the re-hatching of the famous San Diego Chicken before a 4-1 victory. Heavy traffic delays the game for a half-hour before Ted Giannoulas breaks out of a five-foot egg to thunderous cheers. Unimpressed, Terry Puhl bashes Gaylord Perry’s first pitch for a homer and Houston gets the last cluck.

1969 – Orlando “Marty” Martinez, a utility man picked up in an off-season trade with Atlanta, drives home Curt Blefary in the ninth inning for a 5-4 triumph over the Braves. It is the Astros’ tenth straight win, the second time they’ve reached that plateau that season.

2005 – Houston drills Colorado, 7-1, as Roy Oswalt wins his 10th of the year. Morgan Ensberg blasts his 20th homer and Jason Lane belts his 13th. But the day’s headline belongs to Craig Biggio who is hit in the elbow by Byung-Hyun Kim to claim the modern day career record for being hit by a pitch. It’s his 268th plunking, passing Don Baylor. He’s third on the all-time list. Biggio thanks the Rockies with a solo homer his next time up. 

1986 – Houston regains first place in a 2-1 nailbiter over Fernando Valenzuela and the Dodgers. Craig Shipley and Alex Trevino team up for the only Dodger run but they give it back in the seventh when a bad throw by Shipley puts Phil Garner aboard then a dropped third strike by Trevino puts Glenn Davis on base. Kevin Bass drives in Garner then Jose Cruz dribbles a 20-foot roller that Valenzuela must eat while the winning run scores. 

1996 – John Cangelosi is the sparkplug in a 9-3 triumph over the Mets. He gets two hits, walks twice, drives in three and steals three bases to pace the Houston attack. Everyone in the lineup gets at least one hit, including Darryl Kile who notches his seventh win in a complete-game performance. 

1977 – Bob Watson belts a three-run triple off San Francisco’s Bob Knepper in the first inning. He then doubles and hits a solo homer. In the eighth, he singles home Cesar Cedeno to become the second Astro to hit for the cycle. Watson has five RBIs in a 5-5 tie. Jose Cruz doubles home Wilbur Howard in the 11th for the 6-5 victory.

1973 – Tommy Helms goes 4-for-5 to spark a 6-3 victory over the Giants. Jerry Reuss takes the win and singles home Helms with the eventual game-winner. Rafael Batista gets his first big league hit.

1971 – Talk about getting back at your boss! Backup catcher Jack Hiatt singles home Doug Rader with the winning run as Houston takes a 5-4 victory over Gaylord Perry and the Giants. Hiatt, who was traded from San Francisco the year before, still held a winter job in the Giants’ sales office at the time. 

1968 – Dave Giusti gives up first-inning singles to Chicago’s Don Kessinger and Glenn Beckert then goes the rest of the game without allowing a hit for a 2-1 triumph. He also provides the game-winner, singling in Bob Watson. Jim Wynn’s solo homer off Bill Hands is the other Houston run.

2004 – Roger Clemens becomes the majors’ first ten-game winner by nipping the Pirates, 3-2, but the buzz is about a three-way trade with Kansas City and Oakland that brings All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran to Houston for closer Octavio Dotel, minor league catcher John Buck and cash. The Astros greet Beltran in fourth place in the Central Division, just four games over .500 and five games behind St. Louis in the standings. 

2007 – Craig Biggio legs out the 658th double of his career, most of any righthanded batter in major league history. More importantly, it plates Morgan Ensberg in the 10th for the winning run in a wild 12-9 slugfest against the Texas Rangers. Arlington’s own Hunter Pence goes 4-for-6 with a homer and a double. Lance Berkman also goes deep and drives in four. The offense is necessary after Dan Wheeler blows a four-run lead in the eighth and a two-run lead in the ninth before getting credit for the win. 

2018 – Alex Bregman swats a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth to shock Toronto, 7-6, in an afternoon contest at Minute Maid Park. Bregman added two doubles and, after a four-hit night the previous game, had compiled seven extra-base hits within the span of 24 hours – two homers and five doubles. Evan Gattis drove in three to set the franchise mark for most RBIs in June with 30. Houston leads Seattle by 3-1/2 games in the AL West. 

2006 – Adam Everett’s bloop triple in the 13th inning followed by Willy Taveras’ RBI single salvage a 10-9 win over the Chicago White Sox, avoiding their second series sweep at the hands of the American League champs in a span of nine months. The Astros were coasting with a 9-2 lead behind Roy Oswalt going into the bottom of the eighth when one man led the Sox back. Tadahito Igushi belts a three run shot off Russ Springer then tags Brad Lidge for a grand slam the next inning – the third slam off Houston pitching in three days – to tie it up. Fernando Nieve gets the win. Despite a dreadful month and a .500 record, the Astros are only five games back of St. Louis and three games back of Cincinnati in the division chase. 

1995 – Houston erupts for a team-record 19 runs, destroying the Cubs in a 19-6 laugher at the Dome. You might expect Jeff Bagwell to be at the center of this and he is, driving in five including a three-run blast in the seventh. But John Cangelosi? The 5-7 mite takes Bryan Hickerson deep in the eighth as the Astros pour it on with nine runs in their final time up. 

1986 – Glenn Davis slugs a two-run shot off Ted Power in the bottom of the ninth to shock the Reds, 7-6. Davis had earlier singled home a run. Larry Andersen is the winning pitcher without officially facing a batter. He tags out Buddy Bell at the plate after tossing a wild pitch that ends a ninth-inning Cincinnati threat. 

1975 – Bob Watson’s three-run homer off Burt Hooton caps a six-run outburst against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Wayne Granger pitches the final 2-2/3rds innings to save the 6-5 victory. Granger picks off Ron Cey at third base in order to preserve the win.