Author: Tom

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

2003 – Infielder Dave Matranga homers in his first big league at bat  as part of a four-homer assault, but it isn’t enough as the Texas Rangers stop the Astros, 10-7, at Minute Maid Park. Lance Berkman, Morgan Ensberg and Jeff Bagwell also go yard but the bullpen isn’t up to the task of replacing rookie starter Rodrigo Rosario after he leaves with a shoulder strain in the second inning. 

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. 

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.

1972 – The first five Astro hits in San Diego are all homers – two solo shots by Doug Rader , two-run blasts by Jim Wynn and Cesar Cedeno and a round-tripper by Lee May which ties a club record. All that does is create a 7-7 tie. Wynn doubles home Cedeno in the seventh and Houston tallies six more times for a 14-7 victory. Cedeno has three hits and four RBIs. George Culver pitches 7-1/3rd innings of relief for the win.  

1988 – Catcher Craig Biggio makes his major league debut in a 6-0 whitewash of San Francisco. He walks in the fourth and scores the game’s final run after stealing second. Houston does all its damage on just three hits, aided by six walks. Jim Deshaies and Larry Andersen combine to blank the Giants on seven hits. Biggio will get his first hit three days later against Dodger ace Orel Hershiser. 

1995 – Orlando Miller smacks a three-run shot and drives in five as Houston buries the Cardinals, 11-0. Greg Swindell hurls the complete game shutout, coasting to victory after his teammates tally ten runs in the first two frames. Luis Gonzalez adds three hits and drives in three. 

2008 – Astros release pitcher Shawn Chacon a day after he grabbed General Manager Ed Wade by the throat and threw him to the floor in a pre-game altercation. Chacon had become increasingly defiant after getting yanked in the first inning of a start in Milwaukee then later getting dropped from the starting rotation. On the field, the news was better in a 7-2 win over the Texas Rangers but a sour month had left the club in fifth place, five games below .500 at 37-42. 

1965 – The Astros pass the one million mark in attendance for the first time during a 6-2 victory over the Mets. A two-run triple by Joe Morgan highlights the scoring. Larry Dierker outpitches Hall-of-Famer Warren Spahn who is a quarter-century older than the 18-year-old righthander.

1966 – A batting-practice line-drive by Lee Maye strikes Joe Morgan, breaking his kneecap and forcing him to miss 40 games as well as an All-Star appearance. Morgan’s replacement, Bob Lillis scores the winning run in a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals. Mike Cuellar fans 15 Redbirds in the win. 

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. 

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.