1987 Houston Astros season

April

Left fielder José Cruz made his club-record 11th Opening Day start for the Astros,^{[Note 1]} while right-hander Mike Scott made his first start as the starting pitcher,^[6] 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.^[7]

On April 15, Mike Scott furnished his first career one-hit complete game shutout while striking out 10^[8] 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' only other batter who reached base while Scott faced 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,^[9] Scott assembled this masterpiece just three outings following his no-hitter on September 25, 1986,^[10][11] It was Scott's twelfth career outing yielding double figures in strikeouts.^[a][12]

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.^[13]

On May 2, the Astros surrendered two grand slams in one game for the first time in club history, to the Atlanta Braves.^[14]

June

On June 3, the Astros became the first Major League team to cede two grand slams in a single game twice during the same season, this time to the Chicago Cubs. Houston also hit a grand slam, tying another major league record in which two teams combined to hit three grand slams in one game.^[14] The Cubs toppled the Astros, 22–7, scoring in each of the first seven innings. Astros starter Bob Knepper (losing pitcher, 2–6) was battered for nine runs on seven hits in the first inning, during which Brian Dayett hit Chicago's first grand slam of the game. In the sixth, Keith Moreland slugged the Cubs' second grand slam, on the way to a game-high 7 RBI. Cubs catcher Jody Davis scored five times, while second baseman Ryne Sandberg scored four. During the top of the fourth inning, the Astros' Billy Hatcher connected for a grand slam off starter Rick Sutcliffe (8–2).^[15]

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,^[16] representing a career-best scoreless innings streak of 27.^[17] 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).^[18]

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,^[19] 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).^[20][21]

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.^[21]

The Astros withstood two home runs each by Chili Davis and Matt Williams, while the bullpen staved off Padres comeback attempts during the bottom of sixth and eighth innings. Starter Jim Deshaies (8–2) tossed seven sturdy innings with three earned runs, while Larry Andersen got his first save by converting the final two outs.^[21]

The next Astros player to swat as many as four extra-base hits during one contest was Jeff Bagwell^[b][22]—who tied the major league record with four doubles—on June 14, 1996.^[23]

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.^[24] 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.^[25]

MLB All-Star Game

Mike Scott, the Astros' Opening Day starter, was also named the NL starter for the All-Star Game, hosted at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. He tossed two scoreless innings,^[26] allowed one hit, and retired Terry Kennedy via strikeout.^[27] Scott became the second Astros pitcher to start the All-Star Game, following J. R. Richard in the 1980 contest.^[28]

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.^[27]

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.^[29][30]

Caminiti earned the NL Player of the Week Award for July 19.^[31] 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.^[32]

August—September

On August 3, Kevin Bass became the 16th National Leaguer and third Astro to homer from both sides of the plate.^[c][33]

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 62–59 (.512), while trailing first place by 1⁄2 game.^[34]

Bill Doran earned NL Player of the Week Award for August 23.^[31]

The Astros encountered their longest losing streak of season, also seven games, starting August 25.^[34]

On August 31, 1987, Billy Hatcher of the Astros was batting against the Chicago Cubs when his bat broke and pieces flew down the third base line. Cubs third baseman Keith Moreland saw cork, and Hatcher was subsequently suspended for 10 games. He later claimed that he was using reliever Dave Smith's bat, who had allowed him to select one from his bat rack, and not his own.^[35]

Kevin Bass connected for his second switch-hit multi-home run game on September 2, becoming the first player in National League history to do so twice during the same season,^[d] the seventh National League player overall with two or more such games, and first Houston Astro. Moreover, Astros batters had registered four of the seven most recent games.^[e][33]

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.^[36]

José Cruz connected for his final home run as a member of the Astros on September 7, off Joe Price of the Giants.^[37] 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.^[38]

Nolan Ryan's 4,500th strikeout

On September 9, Ryan struck out Mike Aldrete for the 4,500th strikeout in his career.^[39] 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. When asked about further milestones, Ryan predicted that "this old dog" would not reach strikeout number 5,000.^[36]

Ryan's performance was the most in the Major Leagues since Roger Clemens's 20 strikeout game on April 29, 1986,^[f][40] and the third 16+ strikeout performance in franchise annals. 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 by an Astro pitcher, on August 28, 1998.^[41] Moreover, October 1, 2005, Clemens succeeded Ryan by becoming the second pitcher to attain his 4,500th career strikeout as a member of the Astros.^[36]

This was Ryan's fourteenth career performance with 16 or more strikeouts, and his most since June 9, 1979, as a member of the California Angels. This represented his career-high while in Houston..^[42]

However, this remained the final date of the season in which the Astros' record was still above .500, going 70–69 (.504). Their performance tumbled at 6–19 (.240) for the remainder of the season.^[34]

Rest of September

Glenn Davis launched three home runs on September 10 at Jack Murphy Stadium; however, in spite of this performance, the San Diego Padres overcame Houston, 8–7. Davis' first two home runs were off Mark Grant, and the final was launched off Mark Davis on his way to five RBI. In the bottom of the ninth, Rob Nelson singled home Garry Templeton off Manny Hernández for the walk-off.^[43] This was the first of two occasions that Davis had hit three home runs in a game during his career,^[44] and was the third time by an Astros hitter.^[g][45]

On September 15, the Astros turned the fifth triple play in club history, doing so against the Dodgers.^[46]

Performance overview

Houston finished the season with the third-highest attendance total in baseball (1,909,902).^[26] Six Astros hitters logged double-figures in home runs to tie a club record by the 1977 squad, which remained until 1993.^[h][47]

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),^[48] 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).^[49] 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.^[50] 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).^[i][51]

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.^[j][52] 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.^[53]

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.^[54] Ryan joined Richard in 1979 as the second Astro with this distinction.^[49][50] Ryan became the oldest pitcher to the lead the league in strikeouts.^[54]

Ryan also led the major leagues in hits per nine innings surrendered (6.548 H/9) for the fourth time in his Astros career, setting a franchise record in this statistic. This was the ninth occasion in club history a Houston pitcher had led the league. Ryan was preceded by Don Wilson, J. R. Richard and Mike Scott..^[55]

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).^[k][56]

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).^[57]

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Batting

• Games played: Bill Doran (162)^[63]

Pitching

Sources:^[48][53]

• Earned run average (ERA): Nolan Ryan (2.76)
• Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP): Nolan Ryan (2.47—led MLB)
• Games started: Mike Scott (36)
• Hits per nine innings pitched (H/9): Nolan Ryan (6.5—led MLB)
• Losses: Bob Knepper (17)
• Strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB): Nolan Ryan (3.10—led MLB)
• Strikeouts: Nolan Ryan (276—led MLB)
• Strikeouts per nine innings pitched (K/9): Nolan Ryan (11.5—led MLB)

Major League debuts