Astros reached double-digit runs without a homer, first since 2012

The Astros did something they haven’t done since 2012.

The Houston Astros had their great offensive output of the young season Wednesday night. After scoring five or fewer runs in the first eight games, the potential of this lineup has started to show. In Tuesday’s late night win, the Stros scored seven runs, jump-started by George Springer‘s leadoff homer. They scored seven runs with only three extra base hits and 14 altogether.

That was a nice change of pace from the majority of the early season run production came via the long ball. The Astros are currently second behind the Ranger with 12 homers. Hitting homers was not the issue early in the season, but getting runners on base with singles was hurting the team. The hit that really broke the team out was Evan Gattis‘ three-run double to give the Stros the lead Tuesday.

Wednesday’s win was unique.

Fast forward to Wednesday night, after trailing 5-0. The Astros offense fought back to take the lead. The final score was 10-5, winning the series 2-1 versus the Mariners. While the Astros scoring a season-high ten runs was great, they did so in an unconventional way. The lineup is known for their power up and down the lineup, but they did not hit a homer in that game.

While that may not be such a big deal, it gave the team confidence that they don’t have to wait for the long ball. The team did hit three doubles, but the spread out 13 singles as well. Jim Johnson asked CTH a question that was in the back of my mind. “When was the last time the Astros scored double digits w/out an HR?” What a great question!

A flashback.

There are still some people who think of Houston as ‘Crush City,’ so it’s shocking for them not to hit one. With Jim’s question, I decided to go back to Baseball-Reference and look it up. I went through 2016. They homered in every game they scored double digits. After dealing with some pop-up ads, 2015 was clear too. I was just finishing

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I was just finishing 2014 when the Astros Twitter handle answered Jim’s question. One sad fact to point out, the 2014 Stros scored double digits in only five games the whole year. April 19th, 2012 was the last time this happened. The Astros were facing the Nationals and scored 11 runs without a homer. They had 17 hits, with five of those being extra base hits.

You might remember that game. Houston had three triples in that game. You can imagine who was in the lineup. It was in the beginnings of the process. Marwin Gonzalez and Jose Altuve are the only players who played that game who are still with the team. J.D. Martinez and Carlos Lee were in the outfield, while Brett Myers was in the bullpen.

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Myers was later traded that year for Chris Devenski. Bud Norris started that game, lasting six innings despite giving up four runs. The offensive stars of the game were Jason Castro, Brian Bougesvic, and Altuve. Six of the starters had had two or more hits in that game. It’s nice to know that the Stros can score without hitting homers. Will we wait five more years till the next time?

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***