1967 – Dave Giusti twirls an eight-hit shutout over the Dodgers, 4-0. A bases-loaded double by Ron Davis is the key blow. Houston deals first baseman Eddie Mathews to Detroit, eventually receiving reliever Fred Gladding and cash (not Norm) in return.
1967 – Bo Belinsky tosses eight innings of one-hit ball before running out of gas in a 3-2 triumph over the Mets. Larry Sherry notches the save. Ron Davis homers while Doug Rader gets an infield single in his first big league at bat . Bob Lillissingles home Bob Aspromonte with the deciding run.
1967 – Bob Aspromonte drives in four as the Astros storm back to overcome the Pirates, 6-5, completing a four-game sweep. Julio Gotay, pinch-running for Aspro after his two-run double in the eighth, scores on a single by Bob Lillis for the game-winner. Larry Sherry shuts the door for winning pitcher Dave Eilers.
1967 – Mike Cuellar tosses a two-hitter and notches a dozen strikeouts during a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia in eleven innings. Cuellar also scores the game-winner on a single by Jim Wynn. A sacrifice fly by Eddie Mathews plates the other Houston run.
1967 – Jim Wynn clubs two homers in the 8-5 opener of a doubleheader split in Pittsburgh, including a mammoth three-run bomb that lands on a Little League diamond in back of Forbes Field. Houston has the league leader in each triple crown category (Wynn 25 HRs, 75 RBIs; Rusty Staub .358 BA) but sit, as a team, in last place. The Pirates get revenge in the nightcap, 15-2.
The disappointing Pirates continue to flounder, splitting a pair with the last-place Astros, dropping the opener thanks in large part to outsize slugging by the “Toy Cannon”, Jimmy Wynn. Four of Houston’s eight runs ride home on Wynn’s two homers, the last of which is a three-run, tape-measure coup-de-grâce which puts Houston up by 8 before Pittsburgh even shows a pulse. The culminating “Cannon Shot” passes over the batting cage to the left of the 457-foot mark on the way out, putting it in the company of historic shots by Rogers Hornsby, Josh Gibson, Ralph Kiner, Dick Stuart and Roberto Clemente. As it turns out, the Pirates do eventually compete and what looked like icing will prove to be Houston’s margin of victory as they hold on and outlast Pittsburgh, 8 – 5.
1967 – Houston sweeps a twinbill against the Dodgers for the first time. Ron Davis bashes two run-scoring doubles while Don Wilson tosses seven shutout innings in the 4-1 opener. Eddie Mathews and Jim Wynn belt homers to lead the 8-2 nightcap win at Dodger Stadium.
1967 – Julio Gotay doubles off Larry Jaster in the fifth inning for his eighth consecutive hit. The Cardinals rally late against Bo Belinsky to beat the Astros, 6-2. Gotay had been hit-by-pitched and singled before setting the club record.
1967 – Julio Gotay, filling in at second base while Joe Morgan is on military leave, goes 5-for-5 but the Cardinals outlast Houston, 5-4, in eleven innings. His last hit plates Bob Aspromonte to send the game to overtime. Roger Maris hits the game-winner off Barry Latman. Curt Flood ends it with a rare outfield unassisted double play, snaring a sinking liner by Bob Lillis then trotting to second base to double off Jim Landis.
1967 – Minutes before the trade deadline expires, Houston ships closer Claude Raymond to Atlanta for pitcher Wade Blasingame. Less than 24 hours later, Raymond saves a 9-8 decision over the Astros. Jim Wynn homers again, his seventh long ball in the past week.
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