ANAHEIM -- For the 5,000th time in franchise history Friday night, the Astros walked off the field a winner. From the first pitch thrown in franchise history on April 10, 1962, by Bobby Shantz to the final pitch of Friday's 5-3 win over the Angels thrown by Josh Hader, it's been a benchmark 62 years in the making. The Astros became the 18th team in history to reach 5,000 wins -- earlier this year, the Angels became the first expansion club to reach 5,000 wins -- and their path to the number has been distinctly their own. They've played in the National League and the American League, called three different ballparks home, won two World Series titles, produced two Hall of Famers and have seen 1,001 different players suit up. The expansion Colt .45's wound up losing 96 games in all three seasons of their existence before they were replaced in 1965 by the Astros, who took it a step further by losing 97 games that year. It wasn't until 1972, when the Astros went 84-69, that there was winning baseball in Houston. The franchise's dark early years eventually gave way to playoff teams in the 1980s and 1990s and an NL pennant in 2005. But it wasn't until 2006 that the Colt .45's/Astros reached the breakeven point for their existence, posting an overall .500 record. The Astros spent a few days above .500 in May 2006 before plummeting again. Three consecutive 100-loss seasons dropped the Houston franchise into baseball purgatory, but the rebuilding effort that took off in 2015 and culminated with a World Series championship in 2017 changed the arc of the franchise. The Astros are closing in on their seventh AL West division title in eight seasons. |
The Astros are 5,000-4,960 after Friday's win, meaning they'll both lose their 5,000th game next season and play in their 10,000th game all-time. For now, here's 5,000 wins by the numbers: First franchise win: April 10, 1962 (as Colt .45s), vs. Cubs (11-2) First Astros win: April 14, 1965, at Mets (7-6) First AL win: March 31, 2013 (4,000th all-time win), vs. Rangers (8-2) Most wins a season: 107 in 2019 Longest winning streak: 12 games (June 6-18, 2018) Largest margin of victory: 21 runs, Aug. 10, 2019, at Baltimore (23-2) Largest comeback win: 11 runs, July 18, 1994, vs. St. Louis (Trailed 11-0 after 3rd inning and won, 15-12) Record as Colt .45s (1962-64): 196-288
Record as Astros (1965-present): 4,804-4,672
Record in NL (1962-2012): 3,999-4,134
Record in AL (2013-present): 1,001-826
Record at Colt Stadium: 117-125 Record at Astrodome: 1,564-1,210 Record at Minute Maid Park: 1,082-877 Most wins against specific opponents: 1. Reds: 401 2. Cubs: 383 3. Giants: 354 4. Pirates: 346 5. Cardinals: 335 Most wins played in: 1. Craig Biggio: 1,478 2. Jeff Bagwell: 1,142 3. Jose Altuve: 952 4. Jose Cruz: 940 5. Lance Berkman: 828 Most games won by a manager: 1. Bill Virdon: 544 2. A.J. Hinch: 481 3. Larry Dierker: 435 4. Art Howe: 392 5. Harry Walker: 355 |
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Alex Bregman started his sixth consecutive game at third base Friday, which is a sign the measures the club is taking to make sure his ailing right elbow stays in game shape are working. Bregman went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and continues to play a solid third base despite intermittent elbow inflammation. "He looks really good to me," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "For me, it's more to make sure the elbow doesn't flair up, and we're doing a really good job of controlling the volume of swings before the game. When he takes ground balls, there's no throwing. We've just got to keep a close eye on him." Bregman missed five games from Aug. 16-20 when the elbow initially swelled up and then played three games in a row at DH. He was back at third base on Aug. 24 but was out of the lineup from Aug. 30-Sept. 2. Bregman has started eight of nine games at third since. |
"It's been tough, to be honest with you," he said. "I like going and hitting out there and taking ground balls and throwing and working on the craft. It's kind of been a change in the approach a little bit, but trying to find a routine that works to get it ready before the game but not do too much to flair it up." The frustrating part for Bregman is how well he was swinging the bat before the elbow initially became a problem. He slashed .367/.404/.776 from Aug. 2-13 and homered in four consecutive games from Aug. 10-13. "I don't know if I've ever been more locked in in my career," he said. "I had to kind of take a few days off. We've been managing it and getting to where we can go out there and compete and not think about it during the game." |
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Former Astros catcher and broadcaster Alan Ashby has been voted in as the 2024 inductee into the Houston Baseball Media Wall of Honor. The Astros will recognize Ashby at Minute Maid Park in a pregame ceremony on Sept. 23. Ashby called 12 seasons of Astros baseball across two stints in the broadcast booth, first on radio (1998-2005), then on television (2013-16). He spent his first eight seasons on radio alongside his on-air partner, Hall of Famer Milo Hamilton. He called Blue Jays games for six seasons in between Astros stints. Prior to his broadcasting career, Ashby spent 11 of his 17 Major League seasons as a catcher with the Astros from 1979-89, during which he was a part of three postseason teams. He appeared in 965 games as an Astro and still leads all catchers in franchise history in homers (69), while ranking second in games, hits, runs, doubles and RBIs. |
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