They led the Wild Card by 1. 5 games over San Francisco and Houston on September 25, and both of those teams lost that day, giving the Cubs a chance at increasing the lead to a commanding 2. 5 games with only eight games remaining in the season, but reliever LaTroy Hawkins blew a save to the Mets, and the Cubs lost the game in extra innings, a defeat that seemingly deflated the team, as they proceeded to drop 6 of their last 8 games as the Astros won the Wild Card.

Surgery was done to save his life, but the Astros had lost their ace pitcher after a 10 – 4 start with a stingy 1. 89 ERA.

An Astros lead was lost when Bob Boone hit a two out single in the second, but the Astros tied the game in the sixth with an Alan Ashby single scoring Denny Walling.

The Astros lost the first game in St. Louis, but would win the next three games, with Roy Oswalt getting the win.

A dramatic season end included wins in 10 of their last 12 games, but the Astros missed a playoff appearance when they lost the final game of the season to the Atlanta Braves.

However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1 – 0 score in extra innings.

While he has two championship rings with the 1999 – 2000 Yankees, Clemens has also been on the losing end of four World Series ( 1986 Red Sox, 2001 and 2003 Yankees, and 2005 Astros ), which is tied with Tom Glavine and John Smoltz ( who were both on the Braves when they lost the ' 91, ' 92, ' 96 and ' 99 World Series ) for the most among active players.

Ryan got a no-decision as his Astros lost in 12 innings.

The Los Angeles Dodgers then lost a one-game playoff-and thus the division championship-to the Astros.

He lost a narrow vote for the Cy Young Award to the Astros ' Mike Scott.

He then pitched 10 shutout innings in Game 3 of the NLCS and the Astros won 1 – 0, though they lost the series to the Philadelphia Phillies, 3 – 2.

During the playoffs, however, the Astros lost the NLDS to the San Diego Padres, 3 – 1.

The Astros then lost the National League Championship Series to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Marichal won in his first game back, 2 – 1 vs. the Astros on September 9, ( the same day Koufax pitched his perfect game vs. the Cubs ,) but lost his last three decisions as the Giants slumped in the season's final week.

In 2005, the Braves lost to the Houston Astros, with the finale taking eighteen innings to decide in the 2005 NLDS.

The day before, Koosman had lost to the Houston Astros to fall to 9-8 ; he would win eight of his final nine decisions.

In the off-season, the Astros traded starting pitcher Claude Osteen to the Cardinals, and lost pitching ace Don Wilson, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 29 on January 5, 1975.

The Astros lost the series, 4 games to 2, but those two Astros ' victories were courtesy of Scott's overwhelming starting pitching performances in Games 1 and 4.

Instead, they were forced to play the Astros in a one game playoff – which they lost.

Under his leadership in the last 12 games of the 2006 season, the Astros won 10 and lost 2 putting them a game and half behind the Division winners.

The remaining five teams were separated by as few as one-and-one-half games in the standings on August 18, despite the Houston Astros team having lost 20 of its first 24 games.

The Astros run production was down, even though the same five sluggers the year before were still punching the ball out of the park.

In a memorable NLCS, with four of the five games going into extra innings, they fell behind 2 – 1 but battled back to squeeze past the Houston Astros on a tenth-inning, game-winning hit by center fielder Garry Maddox, and the city celebrated its first pennant in 30 years.

Following the 2011 season, Major League Baseball announced its plan to move the Houston Astros from the NL Central to the AL West for the 2013 season, resulting in both leagues having three divisions of five teams each and allowing all teams to have a more balanced schedule.

McGraw pitched in all five games of the 1980 National League Championship Series against the Houston Astros.

In the 1986 post-season, Aguilera went on to pitch five scoreless innings in relief against the Houston Astros in the NLCS.

He started Game 4 of the National League Championship series against the Houston Astros, allowing one run over five innings but came away with a no-decision after the Astros took the lead later in the game.

The Amazin's found themselves in second place, five games back of the Chicago Cubs in the newly aligned National League East when the Houston Astros came to Shea Stadium for a July 30 double header.

The Cincinnati Reds won the National League West division by games over both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, then defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to two, in the National League Championship Series, marking the first year in which an LCS series in either league went the full five games since divisional play was introduced in 1969.

He was leading his team with a. 328 batting average, five home runs and thirteen RBIs when he suffered a hamstring injury against the Houston Astros on April 25, an injury that would plague him the rest of his career.

After replacement players were no longer necessary, Truby spent the next five years playing for various Houston Astro's minor league teams before finally breaking through to the Major Leagues with the 2000 Astros.

The Mets won seven of their 12 regular-season contests against the Astros, taking five of six at home and losing four of six in Houston, including a three-game sweep in July during which New York's Bob Ojeda, Ron Darling, Tim Teufel, and Rick Aguilera were arrested for a scuffle with off-duty cops working as bouncers.

Scott allowed just five hits and walked one while striking out 14 in a complete-game effort as the host Astros prevailed 1 – 0.

As one of " The Killer B's ", Bell would continue as an important part of the ascendant Astros for five seasons, as the team won three straight division championships from -.

Richard made his next start, after five days rest, against the Cincinnati Reds, who would later finish the NL West season in a tie for fourth place with the Astros.

He was on the Astros ' Opening Day 1990 roster, but appeared in only five games, going 0-2 with a horrendous 16. 20 ERA.

During a 15-year career in Major League Baseball, he played from 1963-77 for five different teams: the Houston Colt. 45s / Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, and Milwaukee Brewers, primarily as a center fielder.

On April 17, 2006, Wilson set an Astros record by striking out five times in a single game.

This second no-hitter was vengeance for Wilson: in his previous start against the Reds nine days earlier, he had given up seven runs in five innings and was the losing pitcher in the Reds ' 14 – 0 drubbing of the Astros at the Astrodome.

After five seasons in that position, he was hired by the New York Mets as the pitching coach for ten years ( including the 1986 World Series championship team ) and then followed by a two-year stint as the Houston Astros pitching coach.

He also managed the Astros for five years ( 1997 – 2001 ).

Houston finished in first place in four of the five years Dierker managed the team, failing only in 2000 when the Astros placed fourth.

* Fernando Valenzuela, the 20 year old rookie for the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitched a 2-0 win over the Houston Astros, the first of eight consecutive wins, and one of five shutouts.