Houston vs Everyone: Astros Record vs every MLB Team: Part 2
The teams the Astros are under .500 against
Another day, another installment of the Astros’ record vs every other team.
We previously wrote about every team the Astros were over .500 against, but today, we will do the opposite and talk about every team that the Astros are under .500 against. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Texas Rangers: 132-134 (.496)
One team that the Astros can get over .500 this season if they perform well enough is the Texas Rangers. When the Astros were really bad for many years, the Rangers dominated them, most notably beating the Astros a whopping 17 times in 2013.
Many Astro and Ranger fans know about the Silver Boot Series. The Astros recent Silver Boot dominance has helped them nearly even up the all-time series, as the Astros have won the last seven Silver Boots (in 2020 the season series was even at 5-5, but the Astros won the series because of the run differential). This has got them to the previously mentioned all-time 132-134 record. Also as we all know, the Rangers beat the Astros in seven games in the ALCS last season.Â
Season with the best record vs Rangers: 2021/2022: 14-5 (.736)
Season with the worst record vs Rangers: 2013: 2-17 (.105)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-texas-rangers
Cleveland Guardians: 42-44 (.488)
Another team that the Astros can get over .500 against this season is the Cleveland Guardians.
The Guardians (or Indians as they were called back then) went 24-10 against the Astros from 2013-2017. However, since the 2018 season began, the Astros have won five straight season series against them. With a relatively even interleague record at the Astros being 10-8 (from 1997-2012), it makes sense that these two teams are pretty even.
In these two teams' only playoff matchup, the 2018 ALDS, the Astros swept the Guardians three games to none.
Season with the best record vs Guardians: 2021: 6-1 (.857)
Season with the worst record vs Guardians: 2013: 1-6 (.143)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/cleveland-guardians-vs-houston-astros
Philadelphia Phillies: 282-296 (.487)
The Astros have matched up against the Phillies quite a bit in their existence. They began the all-time series in 1962 by getting molly-whopped by Philadelphia going 1-17 against them in the Astros first year of existence as a franchise. Houston was unable to win a season series against Philadelphia until 1969.
Despite this all-time bad start the Astros have clawed back to an at least somewhat respectable record against the Phillies.
Some of the best seasons the Astros have had against the Phillies was going 5-1 against them in 1994, doubling that in 1996 by going 10-2 against Philly, going 6-1 in 1999, and in a complete outlier, they swept the Phillies series against the Phillies in back to back years in 2004 and 2005.
The Astros are 6-5 against the Phillies in the playoffs. They lost their first-ever playoff series in five games to the eventual World Series winner Phillies in 1980. 42 years later, the Astros won their 2nd ever World Series in six games against the Phillies.Â
Season with the best record vs Phillies: 2004/2005: 6-0 (1.000)
Season with the worst record vs Phillies: 1962: 1-17 (.055)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-philadelphia-phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates: 345-367 (.484)
Now onto the second Pennsylvanian team, the Pirates had lots of success against the Astros for nearly twenty years. Pittsburgh, dare I say, owned Houston for a hot minute back in the 60s and 70s.
From 1962-1979, the Pirates lost the season series to the Astros ONE TIME. Every other year they won or tied. And the one year the Astros won the season series, it was barely at 6-5 in 1975.
One odd note is that there was a five-year stretch from 1983-1987 they went 6-6 against each other. But anyway, the Astros had their stretch of dominance as from 1992-2006, the Astros only lost the season series to the Pirates ONE time, somewhat reversing it on the Pirates.Â
Season with the best record vs Pirates: 2006: 13-3 (.812)
Season with the worst record vs Pirates: 1976: 2-10 (.167)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-pittsburgh-pirates
San Francisco Giants: 353-382 (.480)
The all-time series against the Giants started in a very up-and-down manner for the Astros. The Giants won seven straight season series to begin the all-time series from 1962-1968. The Astros followed that up by winning five out of the next six season series against San Francisco from 1969-1974 (they tied at 9-9 in 1971).
Outside of that, the Astros best season against the Giants came in 1985 at a nice 15-3 record. They also went 7-1 against San Francisco in 2008. The Giants have had some dominant seasons against Houston going 8-1 against the Astros in 2000 and 2012.Â
Season with the best record vs Giants: 1985: 15-3 (.833)
Season with the worst record vs Giants: 2000/2012: 1-8 (.111)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-san-francisco-giants
Red Sox: 36-40 (.473)
Let’s talk about playoff matchups to start this entry to change things up.
The Astros and Red Sox have matched up quite a few times during Houston’s Golden Era of Baseball. In 2017, the Astros swept the Red Sox three games to one in the ALDS. They rematched in the next year where the juggernaut 2018 Red Sox played against the Astros pretty well, winning that year's ALCS four games to one. The Astros got the last laugh against the Red Sox in 2021 after beating them four games to two in the ALCS in 2021. So overall the Astros are 8-7 in playoff games against Boston and have won two playoff series against the Red Sox and lost one.
The Red Sox had much success against them, going 17-6 to begin the all-time season series from 2003-2014. The Astros have had some recent success against the Red Sox, winning five out of the last six season series against Boston since 2017, only going 2-4 against the Red Sox in 2022.Â
Season with the best record vs Red Sox: 2021/2023: 5-2 (.714)
Season with the worst record vs Red Sox: 2013: 1-6 (.143)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/boston-red-sox-vs-houston-astros
Cincinnati Reds: 401-449-1 (.471)
Ever since moving to the American League, the Astros have struggled quite a bit against the Reds.
They’ve gone 2-10 against the Reds in interleague play since 2013. The Reds swept Houston in 2013, 2019, and 2023, while the Astros were able to take 2/3 against Cincinnati in 2016.
A few more seasons where the Reds dominated the Astros: the Reds went 12-1 against Houston in 1995, and went 15-3 against the Astros in 1967 and 1970.
The Astros were able to claw back into the all-time series by winning double digits games against the Reds in the season series in seven out of eight seasons from 2001-2008. A fun fact is that the Astros have matched up the most all-time against Cincinnati at 851 Games.Â
Season with the best record vs Reds: 1996/1986: 14-4 (.778)
Season with the worst record vs Reds: 1-12 (.077)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/cincinnati-reds-vs-houston-astros
St. Louis Cardinals: 333-381-2
Despite being former divisional rivals, there is surprisingly a lot less to say about the all-time regular season series.
The Astros were unable to win double-digit games in a season against St. Louis for nearly 40 years, from 1967-2003.
Another even interleague series since 2013 is between the Astros and Cardinals as they’re 7-7 against each other since Houston moved to the American League.
The Astros did lose to the Cardinals in the 2004 NLCS in seven games. The Astros rematched in the NLCS against the Cardinals in the following year and they were able to get revenge on St. Louis, winning in six games despite Albert Pujols hitting a go-ahead home run 500 feet off Brad Lidge in Game 5. Beating the Cardinals in the 2005 NLCS sent Houston to their first World Series ever.Â
Season with the best record vs Cardinals: 1976/1997: 9-3 (.750)
Season with the worst record vs Cardinals: 1996: 2-11 (.154)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-st-louis-cardinals
Atlanta Braves: 330-383 (.463)
This will be a longer entry as the Astros have matched up against the Braves in the playoffs more often than any other team. But before that, we’ll talk about the all-time regular season series.
The Braves started very well. From 1962-1969, the Braves won double-digit games in a season against the Astros every year except 1964.
Atlanta peaked in 1969, when they went 15-3 against Houston. Atlanta/Milwaukee also won or tied every season against Houston every year from 1962-1973 besides the aforementioned 1964 season.
The Astros began to perform well against Atlanta in the late 80s, alternating between going 10-8 against Atlanta in 1985, 1987, and 1989, and 13-5 in 1986, 1988, and 1990.
The Astros began to struggle again against the Braves in the late 90s and 2000s. Houston went 1-5 against the Braves in 2003, 2005, 2010, and 2011 and 1-6 against the Braves in 1999. Now onto the playoff series.
The Braves have performed pretty well against the Astros in the playoffs as well. In the 1997 and 1999 NLDS, Atlanta won those two series in three games and four games respectively. The Braves continued their dominance against Houston in 2001, sweeping them in the NLDS for a third time.
Finally, in 2004, the Astros were able to come out on top against the Braves in the NLDS in five games. Houston and Atlanta would match up again in the 2005 NLDS. There the Astros would win back-to-back playoff series against Atlanta, as in the 18th inning of Game 4, as Astros cult legend Chris Burke hit a one-out, walk-off home run that sent the Astros to the 2005 NLCS.
Lastly, the Astros and Braves matched up in the World Series in 2021 where the Braves won in six games. Quite the extensive playoff history here.Â
Season with best record vs Braves: 1986/1988/1990: 13-5 (.722)
Season with the worst record vs Braves: 3-15 (.167)
Bad Season vs Braves honorable mention: 1999: 1-6 (.143)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/atlanta-braves-vs-houston-astros
Tampa Bay Rays: 36-42 (.462)
The fact that the Astros are only six games under .500 against the Rays is a small miracle, as from 2010-2019, Tampa Bay beat Houston in the season series nine out of ten times, and the one time they didn’t, (in 2016) they tied at three games apiece.
The Astros have been decent against the Rays since 2021 as they are 12-6 since that season. The Astros matched up against the Rays in the playoffs in back-to-back years in 2019 and 2020 and both series were close.
The Astros got the best of the Rays in five games in the 2019 ALDS. The Astros jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then the Rays responded with two wins, just for the Astros to come out on top in Game 5.
In the 2020 ALCS, Houston and Tampa Bay matched up and after the Rays won three straight games to begin the series, then the Astros matched them for three games, just for the Rays to avoid the collapse and win in Game 7.
Not really important necessarily but I thought it was a fun coincidence. These two close series have resulted in the Astros going 6-6 against the Rays in the playoffs.Â
Season with the best record vs Rays: 2013/2014/2015: 5-2 (.714)
Season with the worst record vs Rays: 2022: 1-5 (.167)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-tampa-bay-rays
Arizona Diamondbacks: 67-79 (.458)
The Astros have been successful against the Diamondbacks ever since Houston moved to the American League. Since 2014, the Astros have won or tied the season series against the Diamondbacks every season and have an overall 25-15 record since that year.
The Diamondbacks had some pretty good seasons against the Astros going 6-1 against Houston in 2000 and 2011 and swept the Astros in the season series in 2012.Â
*I had to use an interleague series just this once because the Astros never had a crazy good season against Arizona.Â
Season with the best record vs Diamondbacks: 2023: 3-0 (1.000)
Season with the worst record vs Diamondbacks: 2012: 0-6 (.000)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/arizona-diamondbacks-vs-houston-astros
Los Angeles Dodgers: 329-396 (.454)
The team that the Astros are statistically worst against in the National League is the Dodgers.
From 1962-1985, the Dodgers only lost the season series to the Astros, four times (1967, 1968, 1973, 1979). The Astros followed that up with some decent success against LA winning or tying the season series every year except for one from 1986-1993. The season series had been decently even (except 1994 when the Dodgers went 8-1 against the Astros, and 2004 when the Dodgers went 5-1 against Houston).
The Astros have matched up against the Dodgers a couple of times in the playoffs. In 1981, they matched up in the first-ever NLDS and the Dodgers would come out on top in five games. 36 years later, after the Astros moved to the American League, the Astros would win their first-ever World Series in seven games against the Dodgers.
Just like against Tampa Bay, the all-time playoff series is knotted at 6-6.
Season with the best record vs Dodgers: 1992: 13-5 (.722)
Season with the worst record vs Dodgers: 1994: 1-8 (.111)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-los-angeles-dodgers
New York Yankees: 32-43 (.426)
The Astros’ worst record against any other team (based on win percentage) is actually against the Yankees.
The Yankees went 13-2 to begin the all-time series, beating a lot of bad or mediocre Astros teams. Houston so far has yet to overcome this in the regular season series.
Since 2015, the Astros and Yankees have alternated winning the season series. The Yankees won in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2023, and the Astros won in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022. (because of the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, the Astros and Yankees did not match up that season).
But don’t get too excited Yankees fans. The Astros have had more consistent playoff success against the Yankees than any other team. It started in 2015 when the Astros defeated the Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game. Then the Astros won the 2017 ALCS over New York in seven games. Houston followed that up in the 2019 ALCS by winning against the Yankees in 2019.
Lastly, the Astros swept the Yankees, four games to zero in the 2022 ALCS, improving their playoff game record against New York to a really good 13-5.
While the Astros are worse against the Yankees in the regular season than any other American League team, the Astros have always beaten the Yankees where it matters, in the playoffs.
Season with the best record vs Yankees: 2017/2022: 5-2 (.714)
Season with the worst record vs Yankees: 2013: 1-6 (.167)
Source: https://stathead.com/baseball/vs/houston-astros-vs-new-york-yankees
So that is the Astros’ record versus every other team.
Check out Part 1:
What were you surprised by? Let us know in the comments below or tweet your answers to us @astronomic1.