Today, we actually have a truly noteworthy game. Not 11 years ago, the Astros broke the record for most hit batsmen in the same game. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-3 in one of Orel Hershiser's last starts.
Rarely do we get overwhelming evidence that a guy's career is finished, but that appears to be what happened in this game, as the Bulldog hit four batters in 10 at-bats and couldn't even get out of the second inning. He didn't start another game until June, but did appear in four games as a reliever. Hershiser's career was over by June 26th, when he started his final game, lasting 1 2/3 innings against the San Diego Padres.
Houston's Shane Reynolds put together a workmanlike effort for his third victory of the season, throwing six innings while allowing four hits, one run and two walks, striking out three.
Offensively, the three biggest contributors are more like footnotes in the 2000 season. Center fielder Roger Cedeno, acquired from the New York Mets for Mike Hampton before the season, was 3 for 6 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base. Third baseman Ken Caminiti was in his second stint with Houston, going 3 for 3 with two runs scored, a double, an RBI and a walk. Catcher Mitch Melusky filled out the odd trifecta, going 2 for 2 with a double, 3 RBIs and a run scored.
The unluckiest Astro on this day was Richard Hidalgo, who was plunked twice by Hershiser and once by reliever Matt Herges. Hidalgo and Glenn Davis are the only two Astros to have been hit by a pitch three times in the same game. Davis was roughed up in a 8-4 loss to Cincinnati on April 9, 1990. Hidalgo ended up as a bit of a pitch magnet that season, collecting 21 HBPs in 2000 and 37 between 2000-2001.
One last note: future Astros Pacific Rim scouting director Glen Barker made an appearance in this one, striking out in his only plate appearance as a pinch hitter for Craig Biggio.