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The Houston Astros were favorites to win the NL Central title to start the season behind young aces Wade Miller and Roy Oswalt and new acquisition Jeff Kent. But injuries intervened and the Houston Astros ended the season in second place, one game behind the Chicago Cubs. ...Craig Biggio made his second career position move and served as the Houston Astro's primary center fielder. ...on June 11 at Yankee Stadium, six Houston Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the Yankees for the 8-0 win: Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wanger. ...it was the first time in Major League history that a team used five or more pitchers in a no-hitter. ...Biggio recorded his club-record 500th double on July 10 ....Wagner recorded a careeer-high and franchise record 44 saves and represented the team at the All-Star Game. ...Jeriome Robertson set the franchise record for a rookie with 15 wins, the most of all ML rookies. ...Richard Hidalgo was named team MVP and led the Majors with 22 outfield assists.
The 2004 campaign began and ended with great expectations, with plenty of trying times in between. A season that started with so much promise turned into a mediocre effort that resulted in a .500 record at the All-Star break, leading to the dismissal of manager Jimy Williams. Three weeks after Phil Garner took over the managerial duties, the Astros began an unprecedented 36-10 run that leapfrogged them over five teams en route to the National League Wild Card. The Houston Astros won their first postseason series in franchise history when they topped the Atlanta Braves, three games to two, in the Division Series. Despite being decimated by injuries that left them with only two proven starters -- Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens (who won his seventh Cy Young Award) -- the Houston Astros received valiant efforts from a slew of players who helped lead the team to the seventh game of the National League Championship Series. The Houston Astros' historic run ended with a 5-2 Game 7 loss to the Cardinals, one game shy of their first-ever World Series berth.
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