2019 Houston Astros season


The 2019 Houston Astros season was the 58th season for the Major League Baseball franchise in Houston, Texas, their 55th as the Astros, seventh in both the American League and AL West division, and 20th at Minute Maid Park.
The Houston Astros announced after last season that their weekly night games will air on KTRH 740.
On September 18, the Astros clinched a postseason berth against the Texas Rangers and became the first team since the 2002–2004 New York Yankees to have three consecutive 100-win seasons, having done so in 2017 and 2018 as well. On September 22, the Astros clinched their third straight AL West title. For the first time in franchise history, the Astros finished the season with the best record in baseball and defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the Division Series by a margin of three games to two. They then defeated the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series by a margin of four games to two, winning the pennant and a trip to the World Series for the second time in three years. However, they were defeated by the Washington Nationals in seven games in the World Series.
This was the Astros' final season with A. J. Hinch as manager and Jeff Luhnow as general manager; both were fired in January 2020 after MLB investigators confirmed that the team had used electronics to steal opponents’ signs during the 2017 season and postseason.

Season standings

American League West

American League Standings

Record against opponents

Summary

became the first Astro with 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, after homering in all five of the Astros games for a total of six, among nine hits and an OPS of 1.812.
During a contest versus the St. Louis Cardinals on July 28, José 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.
On August 3, MLB named three Astros as winners of all three monthly awards for July, including Yuli Gurriel as AL Player of the Month, Gerrit Cole as AL Pitcher of the Month, and Yordan Álvarez as AL Rookie of the Month.
On August 10 at Camden Yards versus the Baltimore Orioles, the Astros set a franchise record for runs scored with a 23–2 win, and for extra base hits with 13, including six home runs. Three of the home runs came via rookie Yordan Álvarez, 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.. On September 28, Justin Verlander struck out Kole Calhoun of the Los Angeles Angels for his 3000th strikeout and his 300th strikeout. Verlander and Gerrit Cole became the 2nd duo since Randy Johnson & Curt Schilling in 2002 to reach 300 strikeouts. The Astros also clinched home field advantage throughout the MLB postseason on September 28.
In the clubhouse after their ALCS victory, 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.

Game log

Regular season

Postseason

Grand Slams

Roster

Farm system