What happened today in team history?
1983 – Dickie Thon’s massive day
With two home runs off San Diego Padres starter Eric Show, Houston Astros infielder Dickie Thon helped give starter Nolan Ryan all the support he needed for a 4-1 win. Ryan fanned six hitters and sat one strikeout away from Philadelphia Phillies starter Steve Carlton for the all-time strikeout race.
1998 – Ninth-inning comeback
Down 5-3 heading into the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals, Astros Jeff Bagwell launched a two-run bomb to tie the game up before Brad Ausmus smacked an RBI-single for the winning run, winning 6-5. C.J. Nitkowski was lucky enough to take the win, his second of the year.
2009 – Ivan makes history
Astros catcher Ivan Rodriguez made his 2,227th start behind the dish when he started at catcher against the Texas Rangers. Despite breaking the record, Rodriguez finished the game with two errors that helped the Rangers to a 5-4 win.
What else happened on this day?
1967
Lasting over 10-hour, a double-header between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Athletics set an MLB record for the longest double-header in history.
1993
MLB owners vote in favor of expanding the MLB playoffs for the first time since 1969, doubling the amount of teams that make it in. The implementation was put on hold briefly during the 1994 strike, but went into effect after.