2019 Houston Astros season

On March 24, 2019, the Astros signed right-handed pitcher Justin Verlander to a two-year, $66 million contract extension to keep him with Houston through the 2021 season.^[4]

American League West

 

In the March 28 contest versus the Tampa Bay Rays, Justin Verlander made his 11th career Opening Day start, and second consecutive for the Astros, earning a 5–1 victory versus reigning Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.^[5]

On April 3 versus the Texas Rangers, Carlos Correa collected the 500th hit of his career.^[6]

In April 9 game against the New York Yankees, Jose Altuve connected for his 100th career home run off Jonathan Loáisiga in a 6–3 win. Altuve became the 16th player in Astros history to reach 100 home runs.^[7] On April 12, Altuve connected for his second career grand slam, and first since 2014, in a 10–6 win over the Seattle Mariners. He hit another home run the next night off Félix Hernández, homering for the fifth consecutive game and sixth home run in that span. Altuve was the first Astro to hit a home run in five consecutive games since Morgan Ensberg's franchise-record six consecutive games in 2006. Verlander, the starting pitcher, struck out eight of the first 10 batters that he faced and 11 of 20 overall. He allowed one run in six innings.^[8]

On June 9, Yordan Alvarez made his major league debut versus the Baltimore Orioles.^[9] He went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in his debut.^[10] The following game, Alvarez again homered, this time versus Matt Albers of the Milwaukee Brewers. He became the first Astro to homer in both of his first two games.^[11]

Alvarez became the fourth player in MLB history to hit four home runs in his first five career games when he homered off Clayton Richard of the Toronto Blue Jays, joining Trevor Story, Yasiel Puig and Mike Jacobs.^[12] On June 23, Alvarez hit a 2-run home run for his seventh home run of the season in only 12 games, establishing an Astros franchise record. He also became the first player in MLB history to drive in 16 runs in his first 12 games.^[13]

Yuli Gurriel became the first Astro to score a run and RBI in seven consecutive games, and the fifth to homer in five consecutive games on July 7, including a game-tying grand slam in an 11–10 win versus the Los Angeles Angels. He won the AL Player of the Week Award for the week ending July 8, his second weekly honor. He homered six times in all five of the Astros games, collecting nine hits with an OPS of 1.812.^[14]

During a contest versus the St. Louis Cardinals on July 28, Jose Altuve homered for his 1,500th career hit, one of three hits in a 6–2 win that afternoon, in his 1,190th career game. The only players in the divisional play era to reach the milestone faster were Ichiro Suzuki, Wade Boggs, Kirby Puckett, Nomar Garciaparra, Tony Gwynn and Derek Jeter.^[15]

For the month of July, Gurriel batted .398, .427 OBP, .837 SLG, 18 runs scored, seven doubles, 12 home runs, 31 RBIs over 24 games.^[16]

Prior to the trade deadline on July 31, the Astros made three separate trades. From the Arizona Diamondbacks, they acquired right-handed pitcher Zack Greinke for right-handers J. B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin, outfielder Seth Beer and infielder Joshua Rojas. From the Toronto Blue Jays, the Astros received right-handers Joe Biagini and Aaron Sanchez and minor league OF Cal Stevenson for OF Derek Fisher. Additionally, the Astros sent catcher Max Stassi to the Los Angeles Angels for minor league outfielders Rainier Rivas and Raider Uceta.^[17]

MLB named three Astros as winners of three of four AL monthly awards for July, including Gurriel as Player of the Month, Gerrit Cole as Pitcher of the Month, and Alvarez as Rookie of the Month.^[18]

On August 3, Sanchez and Biagini, both making their Astros debuts, tossed part of a combined no-hitter of the Seattle Mariners, along with Will Harris and Chris Devenski, to lead a 9–0 win. It was the twelfth no-hitter in club history overall, the second combined, and first no-hitter for each pitcher. Sanchez started and worked the first six innings with six strikeouts and two walks allowed, and Harris, Biagini, and Devenski each followed with one inning apiece. The Astros lineup got 15 hits, with Jose Altuve connecting for his 18th home run, and Michael Brantley went 3-for-5 with four RBI and two doubles.^[19]

On August 4, Verlander struck out 10 batters over 6 innings in a 3–1 win over the Mariners. With this 10-K performance, Verlander surpassed 200 strikeouts in a season for the ninth time in his career. He joined Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Tom Seaver, Pedro Martinez, and Bob Gibson as the only pitchers with nine or more seasons of 200+ strikeouts. All but Clemens and Verlander (ineligible at the time due to still being active) were in the Hall of Fame.^[20]

In a 14–3 romp over the Colorado Rockies on August 7, Gurriel homered and tied J. R. Towles with eight RBIs for the club record in one game.^[21]

The Astros set a franchise record with 23 runs scored on August 10 at Camden Yards versus the Baltimore Orioles, In the 23–2 win, they also set the franchise record for extra base hits with 13, including six home runs.^[22] Three of the home runs came via rookie Yordan Alvarez, including a grand slam. With a career-high seven runs driven in, his total stood at 51 to establish the major league record for the first 45 games.^[23]

On August 15, Carlos Correa hit his 100th career home runs in 7–6 loss to the Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. He joined Cal Ripken Jr. and Alex Rodriguez as the only major league shortstops to hit 100 career home runs before their 25th birthday. He was also the youngest Astro to hit the milestone home run.^[24]

Sanchez was removed from his fourth start for the Astros on August 20 after 2+2⁄3 innings due to pectoral muscle tightness, and later underwent surgery, prematurely ending his season.^[25]

In the September 1 contest versus the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Verlander pitched his third career no-hitter, the second of the season for the Astros, and 13th in team history. He allowed one baserunner, a walk to Cavan Biggio in the first inning, and struck out 14 batters. The Astros' only runs came on a two-run home run by Abraham Toro in the top of the ninth inning. This was also Verlander's second career no-hitter against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre, making him just the third pitcher of the modern era to no-hit the same team twice, and the first to pitch both no-hitters against the same team on the road.^[a] He is the sixth pitcher to throw three or more no-hitters in his career.^[26][27] On September 7, Verlander continued his domanance, reaching 32 consecutive batters retired, a streak that established an Astros franchise record and was tied by teammate Ryan Pressly in 2022.^[28]

On September 8, Gerrit Cole struck out 15 batters over eight innings in a 21–1 victory over the Seattle Mariners. He became just the second pitcher to strike out 14 or more hitters in three consecutive games, joining Pedro Martínez in 1999. It was the sixth outing of the season of at least 10 strikeouts and no walks for Cole, tying the major league record. The 15 strikeouts tied Verlander's Minute Maid Park record, set earlier in the season on June 12 versus the Brewers. It was Cole's 12 consecutive decision won, dating back to May 27, with the Astros going 16–2 in those 18 starts.^[29]

The Astros established a major league record on September 9 by hitting six home runs within the first two innings of a 15–0 rout of the A's. Robinson Chirinos and Yordan Alvarez each homered twice, and Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and Michael Brantley all added home runs to give the Astros a club record-tying seven in the game.^[b] Alvarez (24) passed Correa for the club rookie record for home runs, while increasing his RBI total to 72, which tied for second-highest total through the first 71 games of a career in major league history.^[c] Former Astro Mike Fiers (14–4), starting for Oakland, allowed career-highs of both nine runs and five home runs on nine hits in one-plus innings. Combined with the 21-run output the day before versus Seattle, the Astros established a club record with 36 runs scored over two games, including 32 runs over a nine-inning span. The 32 runs were second in major league history within a nine-inning span only to the 2007 Texas Rangers, which included a record 30–3 win over Baltimore, per the Elias Sports Bureau.^[30] The following day, the Athletics won, 21–7, on a franchise record-tying 25 hits, which they had last achieved in 1969. Astros starter Wade Miley (13–5) had got just one out when pulled in the first after the A's led 6–0, following his last start in Seattle where he had allowed five runs without recording any outs. Still, it was his first loss since June 17. The Astros became the first MLB team since 1893 to play three consecutive contests decided by 14 or more runs each.^[31]

On September 18 versus Texas, Cole struck out his 300th batter of the season, Shin-Soo Choo, in a 3–2 win. Cole became the 18th major leaguer and third Astros pitcher to reach the milestone, following J. R. Richard (303 in 1978 and 313 in 1979) and Mike Scott (306 in 1986). Cole also became the second-fastest pitcher to register 300 strikeouts in terms of innings pitched; his 198+1⁄3 innings trailed only Randy Johnson's 197+2⁄3 IP in 2001. The win, the Astros' 100th of the season, clinched at least a share of a Wild Card berth, and made them the sixth team in history to win at least 100 games in three consecutive seasons.^[32] The Astros clinched the AL West division title at Minute Maid Park on September 22, their 102nd win of the year, third straight division title, and first three-peat since the 1997–99 seasons. Justin Verlander and George Springer led a 13–5 defeat of the Los Angeles Angels. Verlander won his 20th game of the season, Springer connected for three home runs, Yordan Alvarez collected four hits, and Aledmys Díaz added a three-run home run.^[33]

Will Harris tossed an immaculate inning in the eighth inning versus the Angels on September 27.^[34]

On September 28, Verlander struck out the Angels' Kole Calhoun to register both his 3000th career strikeout and 300th on the season. Verlander and Cole became the second teammate duo since Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling with the 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks to reach 300 strikeouts.^[35]

The Astros also clinched home field advantage throughout the MLB postseason on September 28.

Alvarez' .655 slugging percentage (SLG)^[36] and 1.067 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) were both the highest in history for a qualified rookie, exceeding Shoeless Joe Jackson's 1.058 OPS during his 1911 rookie campaign (minimum 350 plate appearances).^[37]

• In the clubhouse after their ALCS victory,^[38] Houston assistant general manager Brandon Taubman taunted female reporters. The team initially denied a Sports Illustrated report about his behavior, and accused the publication of making up the story. The Astros later fired Taubman, retracted their statement and issued an apology.^[39]

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases; BB = Walks; AVG = Batting average; SLG = Slugging average

Source:[1]

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts

Source:[2]

Footnotes

Sources

• Houston Astros season official site Archived October 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
• 2019 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference