Summary April . On
Opening Day at the Astrodome,
José Cruz introduced himself in an Astros uniform with an electric debut, going 3-for-4, swatting a home run and delivering three
runs batted in (RBI) to lead a 6–2 triumph over the
Atlanta Braves.
Rob Andrews made his major league debut at second base José Cruz' first home run for Houston was also the first of his career on Opening Day. On April 13, the Astros retired Don Wilson's
uniform number 40. and commemorated him during the following season with a black circular patch containing his number 40 in white, which was worn on the left sleeve of the Astros "rainbow jerseys."
May Bob Watson scored the 1,000,000th run in baseball history on May 4 during the first game of a
doubleheader at
Candlestick Park. In spite of
Milt May's home run, Watson sprinted around the bases to cross home plate, edging ahead of
Dave Concepción of the
Cincinnati Reds. Meanwhile, the pitching staffs were unusually wild, issuing a record 41
bases on balls, including a single game league record of 26 in nightcap. In spite of
J. R. Richard surrendering a club-record eleven of the free passes, Houston managed to win the second game, 12–8, and obtain a split of the twinbill. After having fallen behind on May 25 to a 6–0 score, the Astros came back in the bottom of the ninth inning to the
Montreal Expos, via a leadoff home run by
César Cedeño. The Expos retook the lead in the 12th inning, prior to the Astros walking it off in the bottom of the inning, 8–7.
Record-setting inning On May 31, the Astros won out in a 15–3 onslaught over the
Philadelphia Phillies, erupting for a club-record 12 runs in the eighth inning.
Pinch hitter Cliff Johnson fully leveraged the opportunity, hitting a home run and double that inning, which tied a modern Major League record (since 1900) with two
extra-base hits in one inning. The Phillies' starter,
Wayne Twitchell—whom the Astros had selected third overall in the
1966 Major League Baseball draft—kept the Astros at bay by commencing with a two-hit
shutout through seven frames, including retiring 11 in succession. Twitchell's counterpart,
J. R. Richard, had surrendered two runs and four
bases on balls, whiffing eight through seven innings. In the eighth inning,
José Cruz led off with a single, and
Doug Rader ambushed the Phillies' defense with a
bunt that allowed him to reach. With one out,
Bob Watson pinch hit for Richard and singled up the middle to score Cruz, ending Twitchell's outing.
Tug McGraw relieved Twitchell to face
Greg Gross, for whom Johnson pinch hit. Johnson unloaded a double down the left field line that plated Rader, and an additional run scored on a misplayed relay throw to posit the Astros ahead to stay, 3–2.
César Cedeño (
intentional base on balls),
Milt May and
Enos Cabell (an RBI single each) all reached next. Hence, the Astros batted around to bring up Cruz with a 5–2 edge, who drew a walk to load the bases. From June 25 until August 18,
Greg Gross reached base in 52 games consecutively to tie
Jimmy Wynn for the franchise record. During the streak, Gross produced a .345
batting average, .427
on-base percentage (OBP) and .414
slugging percentage (SLG), garnering 70
hits and 30
bases on balls (BB). Wynn first set the record from June 4–August 3,
1969. Gross' and Wynn's streak trailed the NL record by 6 games, held by
Duke Snider, who reached base at least once each game from May 13–July 11, 1954, for the
Brooklyn Dodgers. On July 21, the Astros induced four batted ground ball
double plays by
Joe Torre to establish an individual National League record led by righty
Ken Forsch on the mound for Houston at
Shea Stadium, who tossed a
complete game.
Félix Millán, batting second and one slot ahead of Torre in the
order, went 4-for-4, garnering a single each time, which resulted as the direct conversion into the lead out on each of Torre's dubious batting events. Forsch (4–7) went on to earn victory for Houston, as he dispersed 11 Mets hits, and withstood solo blasts from
Rusty Staub and
Dave Kingman.
Roger Metzger tripled and had 2 RBI, while
Wilbur Howard socked three hits and scored twice for Houston. The final score remained the Astros 6, and Mets 2. Rookie relief pitcher
José Sosa produced a memorable first game at the plate on July 30 at the Astrodome. Taking first his major league
at bat in the eighth inning, Sosa homered off
Danny Frisella of the
San Diego Padres, a three-run blast to lead an 8–4 Astros win. Sosa become both the first Dominican pitcher and first Houston Astro to accomplish this feat. Prior to him,
José Cruz and
Doug Rader also homered in the sixth inning, and Sosa closed out the final innings with a scoreless effort and two strikeouts to covert his first major league
save. The next Astros player to hit a home run in his first at bat was
Dave Matranga on June 27,
2003, who made a
pinch hit appearance versus the
Texas Rangers.
August During the nightcap of a
doubleheader on August 3,
José Cruz collected his first career four-
hit contest. He added a pair of
doubles and a pair of
runs batted in (RBI). Catcher
Milt May homered, tripled and had five RBI. The Astros withstood a three-run
San Francisco rally in the bottom of the eighth inning to hold on for a 10–9 triumph.
Jim Crawford hurled innings of relief for the win, while José Sosa earned his first
hold. On August 10, though he yielded 10 walks to the
Pittsburgh Pirates, J. R. Richard navigated six innings with just one hit and two runs surrendered to lead a 5–3 Astros win. With two hits, a double, run scored, and a stolen base,
César Cedeño led the way for Houston's offense. Having performed to a major-league worst showing, on August 19, Houston replaced incumbent skipper
Preston Gómez with
Bill Virdon. Less than three weeks earlier, on August 1, Virdon himself had been terminated by the
New York Yankees, as New York sought out the potential of installing
Billy Martin. During each of Virdon's first five contests as manager,
Cliff Johnson launched a home run to lead to victories in three. Moreover, an
exhibition game on August 21 opposing their Triple-A affiliate, the
Iowa Oaks, featured another Johnson home run. José Cruz recorded his first career 5 RBI bout on August 23, also hitting a home run. On August 24, Cliff Johnson blasted a home run (15) for the fifth successive contest, Howard also garnered four safeties for the second consecutive game. to lead a 9–6 triumph in Atlanta. In the eighth, Cedeño's big fly from
Bruce Dal Canton's offering plated the go-ahead run to stay. However, just 737 fans witnessed Cedeño's marvel of a performance. The second time in franchise that the Astros had finished in last place, the 97 losses tied the
1965 team for most in team history, was equaled in
1991, and stood as the club record until
2011, when they lost 100 games for the first time. The Astros' .398
winning percentage established in 1975 a franchise-worst, and remained so until 2011. Having trailed the Reds by games, this mark exceeded the games behind the
San Francisco Giants, the inaugural season of
1962. In
2013, they finished 45 games back. With 50 stolen bases,
César Cedeño produced his fourth of a total of six campaigns in succession having attained that threshold, through
1977. Cedeño had been the only Astro through that point to have attained any 50-stolen base seasons. Also, this was also the seventh of a franchise-record nine successive campaigns featuring at least one baserunner with 40 or more stolen bases. Also for the fourth consecutive campaign, Cedeño became a
Gold Glove Award recipient at outfield. He and teammate
Doug Rader, having won five times at third base from
1970 to
1974, were thus far Houston's only multiple winners. Also indicated was that this was the first campaign since
1971 the duo had failed to win the award together.
Roster == Player stats ==