Summary April Left fielder
José Cruz made his club-record 11th
Opening Day start for the Astros, while right-hander
Mike Scott made his first start as the starting pitcher, on April 6. Scott outdueled Dodgers starter
Orel Hershiser over seven innings each as Houston won, 4–3. Cruz homered off Hershiser, and
Alan Ashby stroked a go-ahead two-run
single during the bottom of the sixth to take the lead, 3–2. Scott was victorious in his debut as the Opening Day starter, while
Dave Smith closed out a clutch final two frames for the
save. On April 15,
Mike Scott pitched his first career one-hit
complete game shutout while striking out 10 against Los Angeles, this time at
Dodger Stadium. The lone blemish on Scott's performance was
Mariano Duncan's
single during the third inning.
Mike Marshall, who drew a
base on balls, was Los Angeles' other batter who reached base while Scott one over the minimum.
Billy Hatcher and
Glenn Davis each slugged two-run bombs and added doubles to pace Houston's offense. With a
game score of 94, Scott assembled this masterpiece just three outings following his
no-hitter on September 25,
1986, It was Scott's twelfth career outing yielding double figures in strikeouts.
May On May 1,
Nolan Ryan belted a home run off
Charlie Puleo of the
Atlanta Braves. The second and final blast of his career as a hitter, Ryan hit his first during his Astros debut on April 12,
1980.
June Closer
Dave Smith surrendered his first run of the season on June 18. Smith had opened the campaign with 22 successive outings without having been scored upon, representing a career-best
scoreless innings streak of 27. This run proved crucial for the Dodgers, who temporarily assumed the lead, 4–3, in the top of the 10th inning. The Dodger won the contest when
Steve Sax singled in two runs in the top of the 11th off losing pitcher
Ron Mathis (0–1).
Kevin Bass' four extra-base hits On June 27,
Kevin Bass became the first player in Astros history to connect for four
extra base hits in one game, which were two
doubles, one
triple, and one home run to overshoot
hitting for the cycle (rather, the "cycle plus one"). This effort led a 6–5 win over the
San Francisco Giants, while Bass collected four
runs batted in (RBI). With the Astros leading 6–2 in the seventh, Bass took his final
at bat requiring only the
single to hit for the cycle. He laced a line drive to left field for an easy single of
Mark Davis to briefly attain the cycle upon reaching first base. However, Bass instinctively kept running for second to land the double, narrowly ahead of the relay throw. Previously, on three occasions, Astros hitters had amalgamized cycles, including
César Cedeño (twice—August 2,
1972, and August 9,
1976), and
Bob Watson (June 24,
1977). During the first inning, Bass cranked a two-run double off
Kelly Downs to score
Denny Walling and Glenn Davis. In the third, Bass tripled but was stranded when Downs whiffed
José Cruz and retired
Alan Ashby on a grounder to first base. In fifth, Bass homered to drive in Walling and chase Downs as Houston mounted a 6–1 margin.—who tied the major league record with four doubles—on June 14,
1996.
July Ryan collected his 1,494th strikeout as a member of the Houston Astros on July 3 to surpass
J. R. Richard for the franchise record. In spite of striking out 10 on the day to go with two runs surrendered over seven innings, Ryan (4–9) dropped a 2–1 defeat to the
Philadelphia Phillies.
MLB All-Star Game Astros' Opening Day starter Mike Scott was also named the NL starter for the
All-Star Game hosted at the
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. He tossed two scoreless innings. Scott became the second Astros pitcher to start the All-Star Game, following
J. R. Richard in the
1980 contest. Following Scott's effort, the contest remained scoreless, as the first All-Star Game to go scoreless past five innings. It remained so until the top of the 13th when
Tim Raines tripled home
Ozzie Virgil Jr. and
Hubie Brooks.
July, post-All-Star break Astros rookies provided the key roles in a July 16 walk-off win over the
Philadelphia Phillies, including third baseman
Ken Caminiti, who made his major league debut. His defensive prowess immediately electrified the Astrodome crowd. In the first inning, he pegged an off-balance throw to retire
Charlie Hayes, and in the second, an acrobatic catch to snag a line drive off the bat of
Lance Parrish. At the plate, Caminiti went 2-for-4, including his first major league triple and, in the seventh inning, his first
home run, off starter
Kevin Gross, deep to center that tied the contest, 1–1. In the top of the ninth, fellow rookie
Gerald Young made two dramatic catches in center field to save runs and keep the scored tied. Caminiti drew a
base on balls in the bottom of the ninth, and with one out, Young singled to score him as the game-winner and 2–1 win. Astros hitters drew 10 walks while Houston's
Danny Darwin (6–6) tossed a four-hit
complete game gem, staying through all the way through to become the winning pitcher. Caminiti earned the NL
Player of the Week Award for July 19. During his first four Major League bouts, Caminiti
batted .500 / .521
on-base percentage (OBP) / 1.143
slugging percentage (SLG), 7-for-14, homering twice, drew one walk, and did not strike out. Caminiti registered a base hit in eight of his first nine contests, batting .371.
August—September The Astros aggregated a season-high seven-game
winning streak as of August 20, following a four-game sweep of Atlanta and three-game sweep of St. Louis. This brought their overall record on the season to , while trailing first place by game. Bill Doran earned NL Player of the Week Award for August 23. On September 4,
Nolan Ryan combined with
Juan Agosto to blank the
Pittsburgh Pirates, 2–0. Ryan recorded his 210th whiff of the campaign, achieving a record for hurlers aged 40 and older.
Bill Doran smashed a two-run single that resulted in the only tallies of the contest.
José Cruz connected for his final home run as a member of the Astros on September 7, off
Joe Price of the Giants. The 5–6–7 batters in the
order delivered, as
Kevin Bass singled in
Alan Ashby in the bottom of the sixth to tie the contest, 2–2. Glenn Davis followed with a long ball in the bottom of the seventh, and Cruz led of the eighth with his blast to extend the score to 4–2. That accounted for all the scoring required by Mike Scott (15–10), who earned a complete game, three-hit victory.
Nolan Ryan's 4,500th strikeout On September 9, Ryan struck out
Mike Aldrete for the 4,500th strikeout in his career. The final out of the seventh inning in a fantastic outing for "The Express," Ryan fanned 16 total that day to lead a 4–2 victory over San Francisco. At the plate, he contributed two hits of his own, including one that drove in the first run of the contest. Building on another dominant season, Ryan ended the day leading the NL in
earned run average (2.76 ERA) and strikeouts (226), though his
win–loss record stood at 8–15. Speaking on the performance, Ryan predicted that this "old dog" would not reach
strikeout number 5,000. It was the third 16+ strikeout performance in franchise annals, and by the second Astro overall. Preceding Ryan was
Don Wilson, who whiffed a club-record 18 on July, 14,
1968, and another 16 on September 10, 1968.
Randy Johnson tossed the next 16-strikeout blitz for Astros pitchers, on August 28,
1998. This was Ryan's fourteenth career performance with 16 or more strikeouts, and represented his career-high while in Houston. It was his most since June 9,
1979, as a member of the
California Angels. However, this was the final date of the season in which the Astros' record was still above .500, going . Their performance tumbled at for the remainder of the season. This was the first of two occasions that Davis had hit three home runs in a game during his career, and was the third time by an Astros hitte. On September 15, the Astros turned the fifth
triple play in club history, doing so against the Dodgers.
Performance overview Houston finished the season with the third-highest
attendance total in baseball (1,909,902). Nolan Ryan concluded the season having maintained his major league lead in numerous pitching categories, including 270 strikeouts, 6.548
hits per nine innings (H/9), 11.480
strikeouts per nine innings (K/9), 2.47
fielding independent pitching (FIP), and 3.103
strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB), He also finished as the National League ERA leader at 2.76, earning the distinction as the first Houston Astro to win two ERA titles. It was the fourth occasion that an Astros pitcher led the NL in ERA, following
J. R. Richard (2.71 in
1979), himself (1.69 in
1981), and Mike Scott the year before (2.22). Ryan also joined Richard (303 in
1978 and 313 in 1979) and Scott (306 in 1986) as the third Astros pitcher to lead the NL strikeouts. As league leader in strikeouts and ERA, Ryan contributed the third season in which an Astros pitcher claimed two-thirds of the pitching
Triple Crown (Richard in 1979 and Scott in 1986). This was the second season in franchise history that the Astros featured two or more hurlers who registered 200 or more whiffs, and first since
1969. Scott concluded the 1987 season as NL runner-up in strikeouts (233), tied for third in wins (16), and seventh with a 3.23 ERA. Such was the magnitude of Ryan's accomplishment that he became the rare pitcher to lead his league in both ERA and strikeouts while not winning the
Cy Young Award during the same season, instead placing fifth in the voting. Ryan joined Richard in 1979 as the second Astro with this distinction. With 53
stolen bases,
Billy Hatcher became the first Astro since
César Cedeño (61) in
1977 to pierce the 50-stolen base threshold. Hatcher's was the seventh such season in franchise history (Cedeño produced each of the first six). Second baseman
Bill Doran was voted for Houston Astros' team
Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) for the second time, following his selection in
1985. He became the third repeat winner, following
Rusty Staub (
1966 and
1967), and teammate
José Cruz (four times,
1977,
1980,
1983, and
1984).
Season standings Record vs. opponents Notable transactions • April 2, 1987:
Jeff Calhoun was traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for
Ronn Reynolds. • June 2, 1987:
1987 Major League Baseball draft •
Craig Biggio was drafted by the Astros in the 1st round (22nd pick). Player signed June 8, 1987. •
Darryl Kile was drafted by the Astros in the 30th round. Player signed May 18, 1988. • June 2, 1987:
Eric Bullock was traded by the Astros to the
Minnesota TWins for
Clay Christiansen.
Roster == Game log ==