Summary April Prior to the start of the season's first game, the Astros were announced as the hosts for the
1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. For
Opening Day, on April 6, the Astros hosted the
St. Louis Cardinals.
Nolan Ryan made his first Opening Day start for Houston; however, he took the
loss as the Cardinals sent nine men to the plate and scored five
runs during the first inning. St. Louis never looked back, pounding out 18
hits and taking the season's inaugural contest, 14–3. This was the first time that Ryan surrendered more than three runs in any game at the Astrodome.
Art Howe banged out a
sacrifice fly during the bottom of the second inning off Cardinals starter
Bob Forsch and swatted a
home run in the seventh.
Alan Ashby also homered off Forsch in the sixth to account for all of Houston's tallies.
Jim Kaat tossed a scoreless ninth inning for St. Louis to become the first pitcher in major league history to appear in 24 seasons. This was the second consecutive Opening Day that the Astros were matched up against that season's eventual
World Series champions.
Ray Knight slugged a home run of his own, collected three
runs batted in (RBI) and was 3-for-4 as Houston triumphed, 6–2. Nolan Ryan (1–4) went the distance, struck out five, and earned his first win of the season
May On May 26, reliever
Frank LaCorte, after having
walked the
bases loaded to the
Montreal Expos, became so furious that he torched his jersey upon returning to the
clubhouse. LaCorte considered his jersey
number 31 a bad
omen, representing the many instances he had fallen behind in the
count to the batter. The team later gave him number 27.
George Cappuzzello relieved LaCorte, and all three runners scored—first on a
sacrifice fly by
Tim Raines, then on
Tim Wallach's home run, rallying Montreal to a 4–0 victory in 10 innings. For the first nine innings,
Charlie Lea had one-hit the Astros, while
Don Sutton countered with five-hit
shutout ball.
Don Sutton's 250th career win During his brief stay as an Astro, right-hander
Don Sutton earned his 250th career victory on July 7, 1982, via a 5–1 tally versus the
Chicago Cubs. It was his ninth win of the campaign. In support,
Phil Garner slugged a two-run home run, and José Cruz drove in two others.
July From July 24 to August 14,
Dickie Thon manufactured a 21-game hitting streak, which was the fifth in team history of 20 games or longer, and just two games short of
Art Howe's then-club record of 23 from May 1 to May 24 of the
prior campaign. During the streak, Thon
batted .308, pounded eight
doubles, three
triples, and purloined eight
bases, while striking out just twice. Thon's hitting streak tied
Pete Rose for longest in the National League on the season, and tied for third longest in baseball behind
Rod Carew (25 games),
Kent Hrbek (23), and tied with
Richie Zisk (21) in the
American League (AL).
Nolan Ryan's 200th career win On July 27, Nolan Ryan earned the 200th victory of his career with a five-hit, 3–2 triumph over the
Cincinnati Reds.
Terry Puhl smashed a line drove of reliever
Jim Kern, which second baseman
Ron Oester slung wildly as
Ray Knight charged around third base, ahead of the throw to home plate to score the winning run.
August On August 11, Nolan Ryan hurled his first one-hit complete game as an Astro, the eighth of his career, and lowest-hit effort since his
no-hitter on September 26,
1981. Ryan's most recent one-hitter was on July 13,
1979, as a member of the
California Angels. Ryan (12–8) walked three and struck out six for a
game score of 88, and, at the plate, hit an RBI single and drew a base on balls to lead a 3–0 win over the
San Diego Padres.
Terry Puhl slashed three hits, while
Phil Garner and
Ray Knight each logged RBI singles.
Dickie Thon extended his
hitting streak to 20 games. During the month of August,
Nolan Ryan went 3–0 W–L and 1.98 ERA over 7 starts, with three complete games and two shutouts. Over 54 innings, Ryan yielded 32 hits, 25 BB surrendered a .168
batting average against (BAA), and 1.043 WHIP, with 48 punchouts. In the months of July and August combined, Ryan posted a 7–1 record, 1.60 ERA, 7 complete games, and 3 shutouts. Ryan surrendered 57 hits and struck out 96 over
innings pitched (IP).
September On September 6,
Bill Doran made his major league debut. Doran went 0-for-3 in a 4-to-2 defeat to San Diego. During the bottom of the second inning, Doran grounded out in his first
plate appearance versus Padres starter
Chris Welsh (8–5), who earned a
complete game victory.
Alan Ashby (10) homered in the bottom of the fourth inning—also scoring
José Cruz—to supply all of Houston's offense. On September 27,
switch-hitting catcher
Alan Ashby became the 12th National League player—on the 17th occasion—and first Houston Astro to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game. However, it was Ashby's single to right in the top of the eighth which plated José Cruz for the go-ahead tally at 4–3 over the Padres. Two innings earlier, Ashby had homered from the left side off Padres starter
John Montefusco to tie it 3-all. In the top of the ninth, from the right side, Ashby took lefty
Chris Welsh deep for a three-run bomb for the 7–3 score. Houston batters aggregated 15 hits, led by Ashby and Cruz with three each. Meanwhile,
Vern Ruhle (9–13) posted scoreless ball over the final five innings in relief, with four strikeouts to pick up the victory.
Performance overview The Astros concluded the 1982 season with an record, for fifth place and 12 games behind the NL West division-champion Atlanta Braves. Hence, the Astros missed the
playoffs for the first time since
1979 after having qualified for the first two times in franchise history. It was the just third time since
1969 that Houston had finished more than four games under .500.
Dickie Thon collected 10
triples to lead the National League. Thon was the fourth Astros hitter to lead the league in triples, succeeding teammate
Craig Reynolds from the year prior.
Nolan Ryan led the major leagues in fewest
hits per nine innings surrendered (7.047), the seventh time in club history for an Astros pitcher. Having the led the league the year prior, Ryan joined
J. R. Richard as the second Astros pitcher to lead the league in the category multiple times. However, Ryan also led the major leagues in most walks issued (109) to extend his major-league record for leading the league to an eighth season, and for the second time in the National League. Ryan already held the American League record with six, as a member of the California Angels. This was his second time as member of the Astros.
Season standings Record vs. opponents Notable transactions • June 8, 1982:
Joe Pittman was traded by the Astros to the
San Diego Padres for
Danny Boone. • August 30, 1982:
Don Sutton was traded by the Astros to the
Milwaukee Brewers for players to be named later and cash. • September 3, 1982: The Brewers completed their August 30 trade with the Astros, sending
Kevin Bass,
Frank DiPino, and
Mike Madden to the Astros.
Roster == Player stats ==