September 9, 1969, Houston: Astros 9, Padres 2 (box score)

First, the good news: Ivan Murrell hit his third home run of the season with two out in the ninth to avoid the shutout. The bad news? Pretty much everything else.

Joe Niekro started for San Diego and coughed up six runs in 4+ innings. The final batter he faced, Jimmy Wynn, launched a three-run homer to give the Astros a 6-0 lead.

The Padres managed just two singles off Houston starter Larry Dierker through 8 2/3 innings. Then Jerry Morales knocked a single of his own (the first hit of what would become a 14-year career in the big leagues) and Murrell homered before Dierker retired Nate Colbert to end the suffering.

I have to be honest. As someone who missed the inaugural season when it happened, I find writing about it almost unbearable at times. This team was unbelievably bad. Kudos to the fans who’ve stuck with the Padres from the beginning. I hope they give you (and the rest of us) a real good reason to cheer before long.

Tagged as: astros, Baseball, houston_astros, joe_niekro, larry_dierker, nate_colbert, padres, san_diego_padres