| 2010 Houston Astros | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |
| Division | Central | |
| Ballpark | Minute Maid Park | |
| City | Houston, Texas | |
| Record | 76–86 (.469) | |
| Divisional place | 4th | |
| Owners | Drayton McLane, Jr. | |
| General managers | Ed Wade | |
| Managers | Brad Mills | |
| Television | Fox Sports Houston KTXH Bill Brown, Jim Deshaies | |
| Radio | KTRH Milo Hamilton, Brett Dolan, Dave Raymond KLAT (Spanish) | |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference | |
| ||
The 2010 Houston Astros season was the 49th season in the history of the franchise. The team, managed by first-year manager Brad Mills, began their 11th season at Minute Maid Park and 46th as the Astros on April 5. After finishing 74–88 the year before in fifth place, the Astros finished 76–86 in fourth place in 2010. This was the best before the Astros moved to American League in 2013.
The Astros struggled in April. After starting the season 0–8, they finished April 8–14, despite a 3.92 ERA from their pitching staff. They lost the last four in April, as well as the first four in May for a second 8-game losing streak. They finished May with a 9–20 mark to give the Astros a 17–34 record over the first two months. The Astros rebounded to win 8 of their first 10 games in June, but struggled in Interleague play, going 2–10 against the AL in June to finish 14–14 in June.
The Astros lone representative to the All-star Game was Michael Bourn, who was batting .255 with 28 stolen bases. The Astros traded away Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman in late July for a total of 5 prospects, and ultimately the Astros went 13–11 in July. The Astros would go 34–27 after trading away Oswalt and Berkman. The Astros won the final four games of July and the first three of August for a season-high 7-game winning streak, capped by a season-high 18–4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Astros would have their best month of the year in August by going 17–12, including a four-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, the first time the Phillies were swept in Citizens Bank Park.[1] The Astros would experience their third consecutive winning month in September, going 14–13, however the poor months of April and May kept them out of contention down the stretch. They finished the season in Chicago to face the Cubs, losing 2 of 3, but still finishing 4th ahead of the Cubs.
Jeff Keppinger led the Astros in batting average with a .288 clip, while Hunter Pence led them in home runs (25) and RBIs (91). Brett Myers led the Astros in wins (14), ERA (3.14), and strikeouts (180) in a career year, where he went 6 innings in his first 32 starts. Michael Bourn his 2nd consecutive Gold Glove Award to go along with his All-Star selection.