Astros Stat of the Day: April 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Astros this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

April 30: Astros 9, Rays 2 -- Baker notches career win 1,906
Astros manager Dusty Baker recorded career win No. 1,906 in Friday’s victory over the Rays, passing Hall of Famer Casey Stengel for the 12th-most in Major League history. Baker will be pressed to move up the charts further with Bruce Bochy standing in 11th place with 2,003 wins.

April 29: Mariners 1, Astros 0 -- Homerless vs. Seattle
In seven games against the Mariners this year, the Astros have not hit a single home run, despite going 4-3 against Seattle. Meanwhile, the Mariners have hit seven home runs against the Astros already. Houston's last streak of seven-plus games without a homer against a single team was from Aug. 8, 2012, to Aug. 22, 2017, against Washington, while the Astros' last streak of eight-plus games of that sort was from Aug. 23, 2014, to April 8, 2015, against the Indians.

April 28: Astros 7, Mariners 5 -- Gurriel leads AL with 10 multi-hit games
Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored to extend his hitting streak to six games, during which he’s batting .458 (11-for-24). He leads the American League in multi-hit games with 10 and has reached base safely in 47 of his 103 plate appearances this season.

April 27: Astros 2, Mariners 0 -- Javier's scoreless streak at 17 innings
Cristian Javier became the first Astros pitcher to record a scoreless innings streak of least 17 innings since Justin Verlander recorded 18 consecutive scoreless innings during his Cy Young year from July 24-Aug. 4, 2019. Javier hasn’t allowed a run in his past three starts.

April 26: Astros 5, Mariners 2 -- Yuli extends RBI streak
Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the series opener, giving him at least one RBI in six consecutive games, which is the second-longest streak of his career. He drove in runs for seven straight games June 28-July 7, 2019. He has four three-hit games this year after not registering one last season.

April 25: Angels 4, Astros 2 -- Brantley doubles in 4 straight ABs
Astros outfielder Michael Brantley, who doubled in his final three at-bats on Saturday, recorded a double in his fourth consecutive at-bat when he tagged Angels starter Dylan Bundy in the first inning. He became the third player in franchise history to do so, joining Rafael Ramirez (1989) and Art Howe (1977).

April 24: Astros 16, Angels 2 -- Emanuel's debut one for the ages
Rookie left-hander Kent Emanuel became the first reliever to throw 8 2/3 innings since the Yankees’ Neil Allen on May 31, 1988 at Oakland. It was the longest relief outing by an Astros pitcher since Mike Cosgrove (8 2/3 innings) on June 18, 1974. The club record for longest relief outing is nine innings, set by Dave Giusti on May 30, 1962.

April 23: Astros 5, Angels 4 (10) -- No free passes from Greinke
Astros starter Zack Greinke didn't walk a batter for the third time in five starts this year and has allowed just four walks in 32 2/3 innings this season. Last year, Greinke walked nine batters in 67 innings for a career-low 3.3 percent walk rate.

April 22: Astros 8, Angels 2 -- Javier overwhelms Halos early
Cristian Javier struck out eight of the first 10 Angels batters he faced -- all swinging. He’s the first Astros pitcher to record his first eight outs by strikeout since Jim Deshaies fanned the first eight Dodgers he faced on Sept. 23, 1986, in the Astrodome. Shohei Ohtani flied out to end the third for the first non-strikeout out.

April 21: Rockies 6, Astros 3 -- Maximum velocities, minimum results
Despite going 0-for-4, Kyle Tucker had three of the game's five hardest-hit balls, according to Statcast. He lined out to center in the fourth (105.6 mph exit velocity), flied out to right in the seventh (103.2) and grounded out to second in the ninth (102.4). His seventh-inning flyout traveled 411 feet and would have been out of every Major League park with the exception of Coors Field, Comerica Park and Oracle Park.

April 20: Rockies 6, Astros 2 -- Offense goes cold
The Astros grounded into more double plays (3) than they had runs scored at a frigid Coors Field. The first-pitch temperature Tuesday night was 35 degrees. Houston's offense was limited to RBI doubles from Carlos Correa in the sixth inning and Aledmys Díaz in the ninth.

April 18: Mariners 7, Astros 2 -- Odorizzi reaches 1,000-K club
Astros right-hander Jake Odorizzi notched his 1,000th career strikeout when he whiffed Kyle Seager in the first inning of Sunday's loss to the Mariners. Odorizzi struck out seven batters in 4 1/3 innings, including striking out the side in the fourth.

April 17: Astros 1, Mariners 0 -- Greinke climbing the K charts
Astros starter Zack Greinke notched his 2,700th career strikeout when he whiffed Seattle's Sam Haggerty in the third inning Saturday. He finished the game with 2,705 strikeouts, which is the third-most among active pitchers. Only injured teammate Justin Verlander (3,013) and Max Scherzer (2,808) have more.

April 16: Mariners 6, Astros 5 -- Yuli reaches safely again
Yuli Gurriel was 1-for-3 on Friday and has reached base safely in 30 of his 57 plate appearances. He leads all American League players with a .544 on-base percentage. He also leads all Astros players in batting average (.422), hits (19) and walks (12).

April 14: Tigers 6, Astros 4 -- Castro nearly bests himself
Astros catcher Jason Castro's fifth-inning homer Wednesday traveled 447 feet, which is his second-longest home run since Statcast began tracking homers in 2015. His longest is 453 feet on Aug. 16, 2016. The homer was the 42nd of his career at Minute Maid Park, which breaks a tie with Yuli Gurriel for 13th-most in ballpark history.

April 13: Tigers 8, Astros 2 -- Alvarez's 30/30 a first
Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles during what was his 100th career MLB game. He’s the first player in MLB history to record 30 doubles and 30 homers within his first 100 career games.

April 12: Tigers 6, Astros 2 -- Gurriel gets on
Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-4 with a double and has reached base safely in 23 of his 44 plate appearances this season for a .523 on-base percentage. Gurriel leads all Astros hitters in walks (nine), batting average (.400) and OBP. He has three three-hit games after going without one in 2020.

April 10: A's 7, Astros 3 -- Tucker brings home another run
Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker led off the seventh inning with a homer, giving him at least one RBI in eight of the first nine games the team has played this year. Tucker leads the club with 11 RBIs.

April 9: A's 6, Astros 2 -- Altuve can't stop hitting
By going 2-for-4, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve registered his 462nd career multihit game, which tied Cesar Cedeno for fourth most in franchise history behind only Craig Biggio (841), Jeff Bagwell (622) and Jose Cruz (541). It's also the most multihit games in baseball since Altuve made his debut nearly 10 years ago.

April 8: Astros 6, A's 2 -- A record home run pace
By getting home runs from Carlos Correa, Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve, the Astros increased their 2021 total to 15 homers, which is a franchise record through the first seven games of a season. They've also homered in seven consecutive games to start the year, which ties a franchise record set in 2016.

April 6: Astros 4, Angels 2 -- Strikeouts don't stop Astros
For the first time since June 18, 2015, the Astros struck out 15 times at the plate in a nine-inning game and won when they beat the Angels on Tuesday. On that day in '15, Houston struck out 17 times and still beat the Rockies, 8-4. The Astros recorded their most strikeouts in a game Tuesday since whiffing 18 times on May 27, 2018, at Cleveland -- and their most in a win since striking out 18 times in 14 innings while beating the Blue Jays, 2-1, on Aug. 1, 2016.

April 5: Angels 7, Astros 6 -- Tucker keeps driving 'em in
A solo home run in the ninth inning made right fielder Kyle Tucker the Astros' new franchise record holder for most consecutive games with an RBI to start the season. Tucker's hot start began in Oakland, where he drove home seven runs in the season-opening sweep of the A's. There were five previous streaks of four games with an RBI to start the season for Astros players. The most recent to reach that plateau before Tucker was his current teammate, Michael Brantley.

April 4: Astros 9, A's 2 -- Bielak retires all 14 batters
Brandon Bielak retired all 14 batters that he faced in relief for the win by throwing 4 2/3 innings, which are his most in a game as a reliever. The only other reliever in Houston history to toss at least 4 2/3 innings and allow no hits and no walks is Frank DiPino, who threw five innings on May 6, 1983 against Atlanta.

April 3: Astros 9, A's 1 -- Alvarez racking up historic RBIs
Yordan Alvarez is quietly entering historic territory, even this early in the season. The 23-year-old slugger has 88 RBIs, the fourth-most by any player in history after their first 92 games. Walt Dropo tops the list at 95, followed by Rudy York (94), Joe DiMaggio (90), Alvarez and Ted Williams (87).

April 2: Astros 9, A's 5 -- Bregman joins rare homer club
Alex Bregman hit a three-run shot in the third to become the sixth player in Houston history to homer in each of the first two games of the season. The last was Carlos Correa in 2016. Also, Bregman had three RBIs after driving in two runs on Opening Day to become the fifth player (sixth time) in Houston history with multiple-RBI games in each of the first two games of a season.

April 1: Astros 8, A's 1 -- Brantley extends opener HR streak
Michael Brantley became the third Astros player to hit a home run in three consecutive Opening Day games, joining George Springer (2017-19) and Jeff Bagwell (1994-96). Brantley was the first to do it in his first three seasons with the club.