1998 Houston Astros season

1998 Houston Astros
1998 Houston Astros
National League Central Champions
League	National League
Division	Central
Ballpark	Astrodome
City	Houston, Texas
Record	102–60 (.630)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Drayton McLane, Jr.
General managers	Gerry Hunsicker
Managers	Larry Dierker
Television	KNWS-TV 51; (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Jim Deshaies); Fox Sports Southwest; (Bill Brown, Milo Hamilton, Jim Deshaies, Bill Worrell)
Radio	KILT–AM 610; (Milo Hamilton, Alan Ashby); KXYZ–AM 1320; (Francisco Ernesto Ruiz, Alex Treviño)

The 1998 Houston Astros season was the 37th season for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in Houston, Texas. On the strength of a club record 102 wins, they rocketed to a second consecutive trip to the postseason with an National League Central title. They did not win 100 games again until 2017, while the record for wins would be broken the following year. On September 14, the Astros clinched the division title when the Chicago Cubs, the eventual NL Wild Card winners, lost. The next day, Craig Biggio became the first Astro to collect 200 hits in a season.^[1]

Offseason

December 22, 1997: Rob Butler signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros.^[2]

Regular season

First baseman Jeff Bagwell hit his first career grand slam while tying a career-high six runs batted in (RBI) against Cincinnati on September 9 in a 13–7 victory. It was his 218th career home run, making his streak the then-longest among active players without a grand slam.^[3]

Season standings

v
t
e
NL Central
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	102	60	.630	—	55‍–‍26	47‍–‍34
Chicago Cubs	90	73	.552	12½	51‍–‍31	39‍–‍42
St. Louis Cardinals	83	79	.512	19	48‍–‍34	35‍–‍45
Cincinnati Reds	77	85	.475	25	39‍–‍42	38‍–‍43
Milwaukee Brewers	74	88	.457	28	38‍–‍43	36‍–‍45
Pittsburgh Pirates	69	93	.426	33	40‍–‍40	29‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1998 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
Team	AZ	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LA	MIL	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL	AL
Arizona	—	1–8	5–7	4–5	6–6	6–2	4–5	4–8	6–3	2–7	4–5	2–7	6–3	3–9	5–7	2–7	5–8
Atlanta	8–1	—	3–6	7–2	5–3	7–5	4–5	8–1	7–2	6–6	9–3	8–4	7–2	5–4	7–2	6–3	9–7
Chicago	7–5	6–3	—	6–5	7–2	7–2	4–7	4–5	6–6	7–2	4–5	3–6	8–3	5–4	7–3	4–7	5–8
Cincinnati	5–4	2–7	5–6	—	4–5	9–0	3–8	5–4	6–5	8–1	3–6	4–5	5–7	1–11	2–7	8–3	7-6
Colorado	6–6	3–5	2–7	5–4	—	6–3	6–5	6–6	4–7	7–2	3–6	5–4	5–4	5–7	7–5	3–6	4–8
Florida	2–6	5–7	2–7	0–9	3–6	—	3–6	4–5	0–9	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–6	4–5	0–9	4–5	8–8
Houston	5–4	5–4	7–4	8–3	5–6	6-3	—	3–6	9–2	7–2	5–4	7–2	9–2	5–4	6–3	5–7	10–4
Los Angeles	8–4	1–8	5–4	4–5	6–6	5–4	6–3	—	5–4	5–4	3–5	5–4	7–5	5–7	6–6	4–5	8–5
Milwaukee	3–6	2–7	6–6	5–6	7–4	9–0	2–9	4–5	—	6–3	1–8	4–5	6–5	3–6	5–4	3–8	8–6
Montreal	7–2	6–6	2–7	1–8	2–7	7–5	2–7	4–5	3–6	—	8–4	5–7	2–7	4–4	3–6	3–6	6–10
New York	5–4	3–9	5–4	6–3	6–3	7–5	4–5	5–3	8–1	4–8	—	8–4	4–5	4–5	4–5	6–3	9–7
Philadelphia	7-2	4–8	6–3	5–4	4–5	6–6	2–7	4–5	5–4	7–5	4–8	—	8–1	1–8	2–6	3–6	7–9
Pittsburgh	3–6	2–7	3–8	7–5	4–5	6–3	2–9	5–7	5–6	7–2	5–4	1–8	—	5–4	2–7	6–5	6–7
San Diego	9–3	4–5	4–5	11–1	7–5	5–4	4–5	7–5	6–3	4–4	5–4	8–1	4–5	—	8–4	6–3	6–7
San Francisco	7–5	2–7	3–7	7–2	5–7	9–0	3–6	6–6	4–5	6–3	5–4	6–2	7–2	4–8	—	7–5	8–5
St. Louis	7–2	3–6	7–4	3–8	6–3	5-4	7–5	5–4	8–3	6–3	3–6	6–3	5–6	3–6	5–7	—	4–9

Notable Transactions

July 31, 1998: Randy Johnson was traded by the Seattle Mariners to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later, Freddy Garcia, and Carlos Guillén. The Houston Astros sent John Halama (October 1, 1998) to the Seattle Mariners to complete the trade.^[4]

Roster

1998 Houston Astros

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

31 Daryle Ward

Manager

49 Larry Dierker

Coaches

25 José Cruz (first base)
24 Mike Cubbage (third base)
21 Dave Engle (bullpen)
8 Matt Galante (bench)
16 Tom McCraw (hitting)
48 Vern Ruhle (pitching)

Game log

Regular season

1998 Game Log: 102–60 (Home: 55–26; Away: 47–34)

March: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Away: 0–0)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
1	March 31	4:06 p.m. CDT	Giants	L 4–9 (13)	Johnstone (1–0)	Nitkowski (0–1)	—	4:29	43,776	0–1	L1

April: 17–9 (Home: 8–3; Away: 9–6)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
2	April 1	6:37 p.m. CDT	Giants	W 7–6	Miller (1–0)	Tavarez (0–1)	Wagner (1)	3:04	13,719	1–1	W1
3	April 2	7:05 p.m. CDT	Giants	L 2–9	Rueter (1–0)	Halama (0–1)	—	3:18	15,040	1–2	L1
4	April 3	7:05 p.m. CDT	Rockies	W 15–2	Lima (1–0)	Wright (0–1)	—	2:47	26,026	2–2	W1
5	April 4	7:06 p.m. CDT	Rockies	L 3–5	Thompson (1–0)	Bergman (0–1)	Dipoto (2)	2:54	21,325	2–3	L1
6	April 5	1:36 p.m. CDT	Rockies	W 6–2	Reynolds (1–0)	Kile (1–1)	—	2:29	21,037	3–3	W1
7	April 6	12:37 p.m. CDT	Rockies	W 13–4	Hampton (1–0)	Thomson (1–1)	—	2:51	13,553	4–3	W2
8	April 7	3:11 p.m. CDT	@ Giants	L 4–5 (10)	Nen (1–0)	Wagner (0–1)	—	3:38	55,370	4–4	L1
9	April 8	9:05 p.m. CDT	@ Giants	W 6–3	Lima (2–0)	Rueter (1–1)	Wagner (2)	3:02	10,021	5–4	W1
10	April 9	9:04 p.m. CDT	@ Giants	W 3–1	Bergman (1–1)	Gardner (1–1)	Nitkowski (1)	2:54	10,153	6–4	W2
11	April 10	9:07 p.m. CDT	@ Dodgers	L 2–7	Martínez (2–1)	Reynolds (1–1)	—	2:51	34,994	6–5	L1
12	April 11	9:07 p.m. CDT	@ Dodgers	W 6–2	Hampton (2–0)	Dreifort (0–1)	Henry (1)	2:27	40,037	7–5	W1
13	April 12	7:08 p.m. CDT	@ Dodgers	L 6–7 (10)	Osuna (1–0)	Wagner (0–2)	—	3:27	33,429	7–6	L1
14	April 13	7:05 p.m. CDT	@ Dodgers	L 1–3	Nomo (1–1)	Lima (2–1)	Radinsky (2)	2:14	32,289	7–7	L2
15	April 15	6:12 p.m. CDT	@ Reds	L 1–4	Tomko (2–1)	Reynolds (1–2)	Shaw (4)	2:28	15,619	7–8	L3
16	April 16	6:30 p.m. CDT	@ Reds	W 7–4	Hampton (3–0)	Weathers (1–1)	Wagner (3)	3:02	14,596	8–8	W1
17	April 17	7:06 p.m. CDT	Expos	W 5–3	Halama (1–1)	Hermanson (1–2)	Wagner (4)	2:31	26,485	9–8	W2
18	April 18	7:05 p.m. CDT	Expos	W 4–3	Henry (1–0)	Batista (0–1)	—	2:55	29,362	10–8	W3
19	April 19	1:37 p.m. CDT	Expos	L 4–5	Telford (2–0)	Magnante (0–1)	Urbina (4)	2:57	18,484	10–9	L1
20	April 21		@ Mets	6–0	Hampton (4–0)	Reed (1–2)	—		14,774	11–9	W1
21	April 22		@ Mets	7–10	Cook (2–0)	Henry (1–1)	—		12,772	11–10	L1
–	April 23		@ Mets	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: April 27)
22	April 24	6:07 p.m. CDT	@ Expos	W 8–4	Lima (3–1)	Valdes (0–3)	—	2:49	8,713	12–10	W1
23	April 25	6:08 p.m. CDT	@ Expos	W 4–3	Magnante (1–1)	Urbina (1–1)	Wagner (5)	3:11	8,489	13–10	W2
24	April 26	12:38 p.m. CDT	@ Expos	W 15–0	Bergman (2–1)	Moore (1–3)	iller (1)	2:49	9,889	14–10	W3
25	April 27		@ Mets	4–3	Nitkowski (1–1)	Franco (0–1)	Wagner (6)		17,656	15–10	W4
26	April 28		Mets	4–3 (10)	Magnante (2–1)	Hudek (0–1)	—		14,943	16–10	W5
27	April 29		Mets	6–1	Lima (4–1)	Mlicki (0–3)	—		14,448	17–10	W6

May: 16–12 (Home: 8–6; Away: 8–6)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
28	May 1		@ Phillies	12–5	Reynolds (2–2)	Beech (0–2)	—		11,410	18–10	W7
29	May 2		@ Phillies	4–1	Hampton (5–0)	Schilling (3–3)	Wagner (7)		18,766	19–10	W8
30	May 3		@ Phillies	3–5	Gomes (1–0)	Bergman (2–2)	Leiter (2)		21,288	19–11	L1
31	May 5		@ Cubs	10–5	Lima (5–1)	Clark (2–4)	Nitkowski (2)		21,431	20–11	W1
32	May 6		@ Cubs	0–2	Wood (3–2)	Reynolds (2–3)	—		15,758	20–12	L1
33	May 8		@ Brewers	1–4	Juden (4–1)	Hampton (5–1)	Jones (10)		14,711	20–13	L2
34	May 9		@ Brewers	11–6	Schourek (1–0)	Eldred (0–2)	—		20,145	21–13	W1
35	May 10		@ Brewers	7–1	Lima (6–1)	Woodard (2–1)	—		19,023	22–13	W2
36	May 11		Marlins	5–2	Reynolds (3–3)	Hernandez (2–3)	Wagner (8)		14,110	23–13	W3
37	May 12		Marlins	4–2	Bergman (3–2)	Hammond (0–1)	Wagner (9)		14,919	24–13	W4
38	May 13		Pirates	1–0	Hampton (6–1)	Lieber (1–5)	Wagner (10)		14,239	25–13	W5
39	May 14		Pirates	2–7	Silva (4–3)	Schourek (1–1)	—		16,123	25–14	L1
40	May 15		Braves	2–3	Neagle (5–1)	Lima (6–2)	Martinez (1)		38,941	25–15	L2
41	May 16		Braves	3–2	Henry (2–1)	Lightenberg (3–2)	—		51,526	26–15	W1
42	May 17		Braves	8–1	Bergman (4–2)	Smoltz (4–1)	—		35,250	27–15	W2
43	May 18		Braves	0–4	Glavine (6–2)	Hampton (6–2)	—		22,119	27–16	L1
44	May 19	6:06 p.m. CDT	@ Expos	L 2–4	Perez (3–3)	Schourek (1–2)	Urbina (10)	2:36	9,126	27–17	L2
45	May 20	6:06 p.m. CDT	@ Expos	W 4–3	Henry (3–1)	Telford (2–1)	Wagner (11)	2:49	8,372	28–17	W1
46	May 21	12:37 p.m. CDT	@ Expos	W 6–0	Reynolds (4–3)	Bennett (1–2)	—	2:55	7,601	29–17	W2
47	May 22		Padres	6–9	Miceli (4–1)	Nitkowski (1–2)	Hoffman (14)		28,550	29–18	L1
48	May 23		Padres	4–3	Miller (2–0)	Miceli (4–2)	Wagner (12)		36,281	30–18	W1
49	May 24		Padres	5–2	Schourek (2–2)	Hamilton (3–5)	Wagner (13)		25,701	31–18	W2
50	May 25	3:07 p.m. CDT	Dodgers	L 3–4 (10)	Bruske (1–0)	Scanlan (0–1)	Radinsky (9)	3:35	34,079	31–19	L1
51	May 26	7:06 p.m. CDT	Dodgers	W 13–2	Reynolds (5–3)	Valdéz (4–6)	—	2:34	16,251	32–19	W1
52	May 27	6:37 p.m. CDT	Dodgers	L 1–3	Dreifort (3–4)	Bergman (4–3)	Radinsky (10)	2:50	17,190	32–20	L1
53	May 29	8:05 p.m. CDT	@ Rockies	W 7–6	Hampton (7–2)	Astacio (4–7)	Wagner (14)	2:59	48,325	33–20	W1
54	May 30	3:06 p.m. CDT	@ Rockies	L 3–6	Thomson (4–5)	Schourek (2–3)	Dipoto (12)	2:55	48,036	33–21	L1
55	May 31	2:06 p.m. CDT	@ Rockies	L 5–7	McElroy (1–1)	Henry (3–2)	—	2:40	48,097	33–22	L2

June: 17–10 (Home: 8–4; Away: 9–6)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
56	June 2		@ Padres	4–3	Reynolds (6–3)	Reyes (2–2)	Wagner (15)		15,735	34–22	W1
57	June 3		@ Padres	8–2	Bergman (5–3)	Hamilton (3–7)	—		13,229	35–22	W2
58	June 4		@ Padres	1–5	Ashby (7–4)	Hampton (7–3)	—		21,027	35–23	L1
59	June 5		Royals	0–3	Belcher (5–6)	Schourek (2–4)	Montgomery (10)		27,895	35–24	L2
60	June 6		Royals	6–0	Lima (7–2)	Rosado (1–5)	—		25,516	36–24	W1
61	June 7		Royals	7–1	Reynolds (7–3)	Pittsley (0–1)	—		23,228	37–24	W2
62	June 8		@ Tigers	9–5	Henry (4–2)	Jones (0–2)	—		11,767	38–24	W3
63	June 9		@ Tigers	5–3	Hampton (8–3)	Jones (0–3)	Wagner (16)		10,871	39–24	W4
64	June 10		@ Tigers	10–3	Schourek (3–4)	Castillo (2–5)	—		11,471	40–24	W5
65	June 12	6:05 p.m. CDT	@ Reds	L 1–8	Remlinger (4–7)	Lima (7–3)	—	2:23	21,310	40–25	L1
66	June 13	6:05 p.m. CDT	@ Reds	L 4–7	Klingenbeck (1–1)	Reynolds (7–4)	Shaw (18)	2:50	28,055	40–26	L2
67	June 14	12:15 p.m. CDT	@ Reds	W 6–3 (10)	Wagner (1–2)	Shaw (1–4)	—	3:23	22,008	41–26	W1
68	June 15	6:06 p.m. CDT	@ Reds	W 13–2	Magnante (3–1)	Tomko (5–6)	—	2:56	14,556	42–26	W2
69	June 16		Cardinals	4–9	Acevedo (2–1)	Schourek (3–5)	—		34,822	42–27	L1
70	June 17		Cardinals	6–5	Nitkowski (2–2)	Brantley (0–4)	—		37,147	43–27	W1
71	June 18		Cardinals	6–7	Bottenfield (2–3)	Reynolds (7–5)	Croushore (1)		43,806	43–28	L1
72	June 19	7:05 p.m. CDT	Reds	W 4–2	Bergman (6–3)	Winchester (3–4)	Wagner (17)	2:38	29,251	44–28	W1
73	June 20	12:18 p.m. CDT	Reds	W 9–8	Nitkowski (3–2)	Krivda (2–1)	Wagner (18)	3:13	24,301	45–28	W2
74	June 21	1:35 p.m. CDT	Reds	W 3–1	Schourek (4–5)	Harnisch (6–3)	Magnante (1)	2:57	42,281	46–28	W3
75	June 22	7:05 p.m. CDT	Twins	L 3–5	Milton (4–6)	Lima (7–4)	Aguilera (15)	2:42	23,168	46–29	L1
76	June 23	12:36 p.m. CDT	Twins	W 9–0	Reynolds (8–5)	Tewksbury (4–9)	—	2:49	27,157	47–29	W1
77	June 24	8:08 p.m. CDT	@ Rockies	L 6–8	Astacio (5–8)	Bergman (6–4)	Veres (2)	2:37	48,150	47–30	L1
78	June 25	2:06 p.m. CDT	@ Rockies	L 5–6 (12)	Leskanic (4–3)	Magnante (3–2)	—	3:39	48,046	47–31	L2
79	June 26		@ Indians	2–4	Colon (8–4)	Magnante (3–3)	Jackson (17)		43,222	47–32	L3
80	June 27		@ Indians	9–5 (11)	Wagner (2–2)	Mesa (3–4)	—		43,132	48–32	W1
81	June 28		@ Indians	12–3	Reynolds (9–5)	Nagy (7–4)	Nitkowski (3)		43,047	49–32	W2
82	June 30		White Sox	17–2	Bergman (7–4)	Navarro (6–10)	—		26,400	50–32	W3

July: 15–12 (Home: 10–4; Away: 5–8)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
83	July 1		White Sox	10–4	Schourek (5–5)	Parque (2–2)	—		29.050	51–32	W4
84	July 2		White Sox	3–4	Baldwin (3–3)	Lima (7–5)	Simas (4)		25,344	51–33	L1
85	July 3		Diamondbacks	6–5	Reynolds (10–5)	Benes (6–9)	Wagner (19)		34,382	52–33	W1
86	July 4		Diamondbacks	4–7	Anderson (6–7)	Hampton (8–4)	—		31,477	52–34	L1
87	July 5		Diamondbacks	5–2	Bergman (8–4)	Blair (3–12)	Wagner (20)		23,607	53–34	W1
69th All-Star Game in Denver, Colorado
88	July 9		@ Cardinals	5–4	Reynolds (11–5)	Stottlemyre (9–7)	Wagner (21)		34,398	54–34	W2
89	July 10		@ Cardinals	3–6	King (2–0)	Nitkowski (3–3)	Brantley (13)		44,655	54–35	L1
90	July 11		@ Cardinals	3–4 (11)	Painter (3–0)	Wagner (2–3)	—		45,760	54–36	L2
91	July 12		@ Cardinals	4–6	Acevedo (4–2)	Bergman (8–5)	Croushore (4)		45,485	54–37	L3
92	July 13		@ Diamondbacks	3–5	Telemaco (3–3)	Schourek (5–6)	Olson (12)		40,007	54–38	L4
93	July 14		@ Diamondbacks	4–2	Reynolds (12–5)	Daal (3–5)	Wagner (22)		40,419	55–38	W1
94	July 15		@ Diamondbacks	8–9 (11)	Embree (3–0)	Magnante (3–4)	—		42,229	55–39	L1
95	July 17	7:06 p.m. CDT	Giants	W 10–7	Lima (8–5)	Rueter (10–5)	—	2:44	40,709	56–39	W1
96	July 18	3:07 p.m. CDT	Giants	W 7–2	Bergman (9–5)	Darwin (6–7)	—	2:43	35,257	57–39	W2
97	July 19	1:35 p.m. CDT	Giants	W 4–3 (12)	Henry (5–2)	Nen (6–2)	—	3:47	32,900	58–39	W3
98	July 20	7:05 p.m. CDT	Rockies	W 10–9	Henry (6–2)	Veres (0–1)	—	3:17	25,491	59–39	W4
99	July 21	7:05 p.m. CDT	Rockies	L 0–5	Brownson (1–0)	Hampton (8–5)	—	2:10	28,718	59–40	L1
100	July 22	9:37 p.m. CDT	@ Dodgers	L 4–6	Bohanon (3–6)	Lima (8–6)	Shaw (28)	2:30	31,365	59–41	L2
101	July 23	9:07 p.m. CDT	@ Dodgers	W 8–6 (10)	Henry (7–2)	Hall (0–2)	Powell (4)	3:38	40,205	60–41	W1
102	July 24		@ Padres	2–1	Schourek (6–6)	Hitchcock (4–4)	Magnante (2)		31,047	61–41	W2
103	July 25		@ Padres	5–6	Langston (4–3)	Reynolds (12–6)	Hoffman (33)		54,176	61–42	L1
104	July 26		@ Padres	4–5 (10)	Wall (4–2)	Magnante (3–5)	—		41,034	61–43	L2
105	July 27		Marlins	9–1	Lima (9–6)	Meadows (9–8)	—		20,888	62–43	W1
106	July 28		Marlins	7–3	Bergman (10–5)	Ojala (1–1)	—		26,220	63–43	W2
107	July 29		Marlins	10–6	Schourek (7–6)	Larkin (2–6)	Elarton (1)		21,870	64–43	W3
108	July 30		Marlins	3–4	Hernandez (9–7)	Reynolds (12–7)	—		33,303	64–44	L1
109	July 31		@ Pirates	7–4	Hampton (9–5)	Cordova (9–9)	Henry (2)		32,476	65–44	W1

August: 22–7 (Home: 14–3; Away: 8–4)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
110	August 1	@ Pirates	2–1	Lima (10–6)	Williams (2–1)	—	19,783	66–44	W2
111	August 2	@ Pirates	6–2	Johnson (10–10)	Christiansen (1–2)	Elarton (2)	21,201	67–44	W3
112	August 3	@ Marlins	3–11	Larkin (3–6)	Bergman (10–6)	Mantei (5)	14,484	67–45	L1
113	August 4	@ Marlins	9–5	Reynolds (13–7)	Hernandez (9–8)	—	14,586	68–45	W1
114	August 5	@ Marlins	3–5	Sanchez (5–6)	Hampton (9–6)	Mantei (6)	19,038	68–46	L1
115	August 7	Phillies	9–0	Johnson (11–10)	Welch (0–2)	—	52,071	69–46	W1
116	August 8	Phillies	7–6	Henry (8–2)	Leiter (6–3)	—	42,523	70–46	W2
117	August 9	Phillies	11–2	Reynolds (14–7)	Beech (3–9)	—	28,651	71–46	W3
118	August 10	Brewers	5–2	Elarton (1–0)	Fox (0–3)	Wagner (23)	18,995	72–46	W4
119	August 11	Brewers	6–5 (10)	Magnante (4–5)	Plunk (3–2)	—	20,553	73–46	W5
120	August 12	Brewers	3–0	Johnson (12–10)	Woodall (5–7)	—	40,217	74–46	W6
121	August 13	Brewers	6–2	Lima (11–6)	Woodard (9–7)	—	21,218	75–46	W7
122	August 14	Cubs	4–6	Clark (7–11)	Reynolds (14–8)	Beck (35)	45,040	75–47	L1
123	August 15	Cubs	5–4 (11)	Wagner (3–3)	Mulholland (3–3)	—	52,003	76–47	W1
124	August 16	Cubs	1–2 (11)	Karchner (3–4)	Powell (4–5)	Beck (36)	52,199	76–48	L1
125	August 17	@ Phillies	0–4	Byrd (1–0)	Johnson (12–11)	—	18,975	76–49	L2
126	August 18	@ Phillies	8–2	Lima (12–6)	Grace (4–6)	—	17,541	77–49	W1
127	August 19	@ Phillies	4–3	Reynolds (15–8)	Leiter (6–4)	Wagner (24)	21,341	78–49	W2
128	August 20	@ Brewers	5–6 (10)	Wickman (6–6)	Magnante (4–6)	—	17,589	78–50	L1
129	August 21	@ Brewers	5–2	Bergman (11–6)	Pulsipher (1–1)	Powell (5)	26,820	79–50	W1
130	August 22	@ Cubs	8–3	Johnson (13–11)	Wengert (1–3)	—	39,886	80–50	W2
131	August 23	@ Cubs	13–3	Lima (13–6)	Trachsel (13–7)	—	38,714	81–50	W3
132	August 24	@ Cubs	12–3	Reynolds (16–8)	Clark (7–12)	—	34,711	82–50	W4
133	August 25	Braves	3–2	Hampton (10–6)	Millwood (14–8)	Wagner (25)	32,157	83–50	W5
134	August 26	Braves	2–6	Smoltz (13–2)	Bergman (11–7)	—	32,651	83–51	L1
135	August 28	Pirates	2–0	Johnson (14–11)	Cordova (12–11)	—	40,709	84–51	W1
136	August 29	Pirates	6–3	Lima (14–6)	Schmidt (11–10)	Powell (6)	41,762	85–51	W2
137	August 30	Pirates	11–4	Reynolds (17–8)	McCurry (1–3)	—	25,342	86–51	W3
138	August 31	@ Braves	4–3	Powell (5–5)	Smoltz (13–3)	Wagner (26)	33,883	87–51	W4

September: 15–9 (Home: 9–5; Away: 6–4)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
139	September 1		@ Braves	4–6	Neagle (14–11)	Elarton (1–1)	Lightenberg (25)		31,168	87–52	L1
140	September 2		@ Braves	4–2	Johnson (15–11)	Maddux (17–7)	Wagner (27)		46,238	88–52	W1
141	September 4		@ Diamondbacks	1–3	Telemaco (6–8)	Lima (14–7)	Olson (26)		41,396	88–53	L1
142	September 5		@ Diamondbacks	6–5 (12)	Wagner (4–3)	Embree (4–1)	—		43,638	89–53	W1
143	September 6		@ Diamondbacks	10–1	Hampton (11–6)	Daal (7–10)	—		44,076	90–53	W2
144	September 7	4:06 p.m. CDT	Reds	W 1–0	Johnson (16–11)	Parris (4–4)	—	2:07	42,787	91–53	W3
145	September 8	7:06 p.m. CDT	Reds	W 13–7	Bergman (12–7)	Bere (4–8)	—	3:13	16,574	92–53	W4
146	September 9		Brewers	6–2	Lima (15–7)	Woodard (9–11)	Wagner (28)		24,462	93–53	W5
147	September 10		Brewers	7–1	Reynolds (18–8)	Karl (9–9)	—		20,813	94–53	W6
148	September 11		Cardinals	8–2	Powell (6–5)	Morris (5–5)	—		52,186	95–53	W7
149	September 12		Cardinals	3–2	Johnson (17–11)	Oliver (9–10)	Wagner (29)		52,493	96–53	W8
150	September 13		Cardinals	2–3	Mercker (11–11)	Bergman (12–8)	Acevedo (9)		52,338	96–54	L1
151	September 14		Mets	4–7 (13)	McMichael (4–4)	Magnante (4–7)	Franco (37)		24,241	96–55	L2
152	September 15 (1)		Mets	6–5 (12)	Powell (7–5)	Tam (1–1)	—		N/A	97–55	W1
153	September 15 (2)		Mets	4–8	Leiter (16–5)	Powell (7–6)	Wendell (3)		40,835	97–56	L1
154	September 16		Mets	3–4 (11)	McMichael (5–4)	Bergman (12–9)	Wendell (4)		24,269	97–57	L2
155	September 18		@ Pirates	5–2	Johnson (18–11)	Dessens (2–5)	Powell (7)		16,937	98–57	W1
156	September 19		@ Pirates	1–7	Cordova (13–13)	Lima (15–8)	—		20,670	98–58	L1
157	September 20		@ Pirates	2–0	Reynolds (19–8)	Schmidt (11–13)	Wagner (30)		23,657	99–58	W1
158	September 22		@ Cardinals	0–4	Morris (7–5)	Hampton (11–7)	—		40,739	99–59	L1
159	September 23		@ Cardinals	7–1	Johnson (19–11)	Oliver (10–11)	—		38,997	100–59	W1
160	September 25		Cubs	6–2	Lima (16–8)	Tapani (19–9)	—		51,831	101–59	W2
161	September 26		Cubs	2–3	Clark (9–14)	Powell (7–7)	Beck (50)		51,950	101–60	L1
162	September 27		Cubs	4–3 (11)	Elarton (2–1)	Beck (3–4)	—		51,916	102–60	W1

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Astros team member

Postseason Game log

1998 Postseason game log: 1–3 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–2)

NL Division Series: vs. San Diego Padres 1–3 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–2)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Series	Box/ Streak
1	September 29	3:07 p.m. CDT	Padres	L 1–2	Brown (1–0)	Johnson (0–1)	Hoffman (1)	2:38	50,080	SD 1–0	L1
2	October 1	3:07 p.m. CDT	Padres	W 5–4	Wagner (1–0)	Miceli (0–1)	–	2:53	45,550	Tied 1–1	W1
3	October 3	10:07 p.m. CDT	@ Padres	L 1–2	Miceli (1–1)	Elarton (0–1)	Hoffman (2)	2:32	65,235	SD 2–1	L1
4	October 4	6:37 p.m. CDT	@ Padres	L 1–6	Hitchcock (1–0)	Johnson (0–2)	–	2:39	64,898	SD 3–1	L2

Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement
Bold = Astros team member

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Brad Ausmus	128	412	111	.269	6	45
1B	Jeff Bagwell	147	540	164	.304	34	111
2B	Craig Biggio	160	646	210	.325	20	88
SS	Ricky Gutiérrez	141	491	128	.261	2	46
3B	Bill Spiers	123	384	105	.273	4	43
LF	Moisés Alou	159	584	182	.312	38	124
CF	Carl Everett	133	467	138	.296	15	76
RF	Derek Bell	156	630	198	.314	22	108

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Sean Berry	102	299	94	.314	13	52
Richard Hidalgo	74	211	64	.303	7	35
Tony Eusebio	66	182	46	.253	1	36
Tim Bogar	79	156	24	.154	1	8
Dave Clark	93	131	27	.206	0	4
J.R. Phillips	36	58	11	.190	2	9
Jack Powell	24	38	11	.289	1	7
Pete Incaviglia	13	16	2	.125	0	2
Russ Johnson	8	13	3	.231	0	0
Mitch Meluskey	8	8	2	.250	0	0
Ray Montgomery	6	5	2	.400	0	0
Daryle Ward	4	3	1	.333	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Shane Reynolds	35	233.1	19	8	3.51	209
José Lima	33	233.1	16	8	3.70	169
Mike Hampton	32	211.2	11	7	3.36	137
Sean Bergman	31	172.0	12	9	3.72	100
Randy Johnson	11	84.1	10	1	1.28	116
Pete Schourek	15	80.0	7	6	4.50	59
John Halama	6	32.1	1	1	5.85	21

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Billy Wagner	58	4	3	30	2.70	97
Doug Henry	59	8	2	2	3.04	59
Mike Magnante	48	4	7	2	4.88	39
C.J. Nitkowski	43	3	3	3	3.77	44
Trever Miller	37	2	0	1	3.04	30
Jay Powell	29	3	3	4	2.38	38
Scott Elarton	28	2	1	2	3.32	56
Bob Scanlan	27	0	1	0	3.08	9
Reggie Harris	6	0	0	0	6.00	2
José Cabrera	3	0	0	0	8.31	1
Mike Grzanich	1	0	0	0	18.00	1

National League Divisional Playoffs

Houston Astros vs. San Diego Padres

The Astros season ended by defeat in four games to the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series,^[5] including losing two starts against Kevin Brown – one of the league's highest-accomplished pitchers that year^[6] – both by a 2–1 score. As the Game 1 starter opposing Randy Johnson, Brown allowed no runs in eight innings and struck out 16 Astros, a career-high, and second to that point in MLB playoff history only to Bob Gibson's 17-strikeout performance in the 1968 World Series. ^[7] Bagwell, Derek Bell, and Craig Biggio combined for six hits in 51 at bats in this series.^[8]

Game	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Date	Series
1	Houston	1	San Diego	2	September 29	1-0 (SD)
2	Houston	5	San Diego	4	October 1	1-1
3	San Diego	2	Houston	1	October 3	2-1 (SD)
4	San Diego	6	Houston	1	October 4	3-1 (SD)

Awards and records

Larry Dierker, National League Manager of the Year

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	New Orleans Zephyrs	Pacific Coast League	John Tamargo
AA	Jackson Generals	Texas League	Jim Pankovits
A	Kissimmee Cobras	Florida State League	Manny Acta
A	Quad Cities River Bandits	Midwest League	Mike Rojas
A-Short Season	Auburn Doubledays	New York–Penn League	Lyle Yates
Rookie	GCL Astros	Gulf Coast League	Julio Linares

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: New Orleans; LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Auburn

References

^ "Mets, Astros Split Doubleheader". CBS News.
^ Rob Butler Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
^ "Bagwell has a career day in 13–7 victory". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 9, 1998. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
^ Randy Johnson Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
^ Swydan, Paul (May 17, 2013). "The 1998 Astros were pretty good at hitting". Fangraphs. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
^ Newhan, Ross (October 5, 1998). "Once again, Biggio Bagwell and Bell are wannabes in playoffs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
^ Newhan, Ross (September 30, 1998). "Powerful Astros are shut down by a Brown out". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
^ Diamos, Jason (October 5, 1998). "Padres defeat Johnson; next up are the Braves". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2016.

External links

1998 Houston Astros season at Baseball Reference

[1] "Mets, Astros Split Doubleheader". CBS News.

[2] Rob Butler Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

[3] "Bagwell has a career day in 13–7 victory". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 9, 1998. Retrieved February 17, 2016.

[4] Randy Johnson Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

[5] Swydan, Paul (May 17, 2013). "The 1998 Astros were pretty good at hitting". Fangraphs. Retrieved February 16, 2016.

[6] Newhan, Ross (October 5, 1998). "Once again, Biggio Bagwell and Bell are wannabes in playoffs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2016.

[7] Newhan, Ross (September 30, 1998). "Powerful Astros are shut down by a Brown out". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 21, 2016.

[8] Diamos, Jason (October 5, 1998). "Padres defeat Johnson; next up are the Braves". The New York Times. Retrieved February 17, 2016.

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