Houston Astros 1998 NLDS

Houston Astros
NL Central Champions
102-60		 VS. San Diego Padres
NL East Champions
98-64

Game 1   Game 2   Game 3   Game 4


Baseball Reference page
For video and audio highlights, go to the 1998 Season Recap Page.

Talk about disappointments. The Astros entered the 1998 post-season as the odds-on favorite to reach the World Series, thanks to a league-leading offense and one of the strongest starting rotations in the league. Unfortunately, the old adage "good pitching beats good hitting" proved true, and the Astros lost in four games to the upstart Padres.

The 1998 Astros were strong all season and finished win 102 wins, the highest total in franchise history. Larry Dierker was named Manager of the Year, and Gerry Hunsicker was hailed General Manager of the Year. The offense was loaded with the returning "Killer Bees": Craig Biggio (20 HR, .325 AVG), Jeff Bagwell (34 HR, 111 RBI), and Derek Bell (22 HR, .314 AVG). Added to this mix were two excellent off-season acquisitions: Moises Alou (38 HR, .312 AVG) and Carl Everett (76 RBI, .296 AVG). This high-powered offense led all NL teams, including the Rockies, in runs scored.

On the mound, the Astros were just as intimidating. Randy Johnson was picked up at the trading deadline and went 10-1 with a microscopic 1.28 ERA for the team. Shane Reynolds won 19 games, and Jose Lima had a breakthrough year with 16 wins. The staff was second only to the Braves in ERA.

The Padres were not as good, but were still good enough to win 98 games. Their middling offense was led by Greg Vaughn (50 HR, 119 RBI), Tony Gwynn (16 HR, .321 AVG), and Ken Caminiti (29 HR, 82 RBI). None of that mattered, though, because it was the Padres' pitching that controlled the series. Specifically, it was the San Diego ace Kevin Brown (18-7, 2.38 ERA) that dominated the Houston batters.

With the series starting in Astrodome, Brown outpitched Johnson in Game One, striking out an NLCS-record 16 batters en route to a 2-1 victory. The momentum in Game Two took wild swings, with the Padres' Jim Leyritz tying the score with a two-run homer in the 9th, only to have Bill Spiers win the game for Houston, 5-4, with an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th.

Because of television scheduling issues, there was an off-day between each of the first three games. When the series moved to San Diego for Game Three, Padre manager Bruce Bochy gambled and started Brown again on just three days rest. Although Hampton matched Brown inning for inning, Jim Leyritz struck again with a game-deciding homer off of reliever Scott Elarton in the 8th inning. Although the Padres won, 2-1, the Astros were confident that Johnson could win Game Four and force a return to Houston for Game Five.

That was not meant to be. The Padres sent Sterling Hitchcock to the mound with the afternoon shadows in the field and he pitched the game of his life. The vaunted Astros' offense was held to an embarrassing three hits and struck out 11 times in six innings against Hitchcock. The final nail in the coffin came when the Padres broke open a close 2-1 game with four runs in the 8th inning off of Elarton. Fans in Houston were stunned. Their post-season battleship had turned out to be the Titanic, and their reputation as post-season chokers was established.


Game 1 at Houston - Padres 2, Astros 1
Tuesday, September 29th 

                1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9    R  H  E
San Diego       0 0 0  0 0 1  0 1 0 -  2  8  0
Houston         0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 1 -  1  7  0

Win - Brown. Loss - Johnson. Save - Hoffman. 
HR - Vaughn.
Time - 2:38. Attendance - 50,080.
HOUSTON - The Big Unit finally met his match in the Astrodome.

In a brilliant performance that would be expected more from 6-foot-10 Randy Johnson, San Diego's Kevin Brown struck out 16 and allowed just two hits in eight innings Tuesday, leading the Padres to a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros in the opener of the best-of-5 division series.

Brown's strikeouts were the most ever in division series play and just one short of the Bob Gibson's postseason-record 17 in 1968 World Series.

Brown's previous high was 11, which he did three times in his final 11 regular-season starts.

Johnson had been practically untouchable at home, going 5-0 -- the first four wins were shutouts -- since the Astros acquired him from the Seattle Mariners on July 31.

Trevor Hoffman, who tied the NL record this season with 53 saves, allowed the unearned run on two hits in the ninth.

Bill Spiers led off with a double, and two outs later, Moises Alou hit an infield single that third baseman Ken Caminiti stopped, but threw well wide of first to allow the run to score.

San Diego's offense had struggled all September, but had nine hits in eight innings off the powerful left-hander to give Brown his first victory in five starts. And with the NL Central champion Astros flailing at Brown's hard, moving pitches, the Padres won a postseason game for the first time since 1984.

Greg Vaughn, who hit his 50th homer in his final regular-season at-bat Sunday night, homered leading off the eighth and Jim Leyritz hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to score Tony Gwynn, the only player left from San Diego's 1984 World Series team.

Brown, 18-7 during the regular season, beat Atlanta's Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in last year's NL championship series while with Florida, and now has added Johnson to his list.

The right-hander, acquired for three prospects on Dec. 15, had been 0-2 with two no-decisions in his previous four starts despite allowing just seven earned runs in 30 innings.

Houston's Killer B's -- Craig Biggio, Derek Bell and Jeff Bagwell -- were a combined 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts.

Johnson was 10-1 for the Astros in the regular season, with the only loss a 4-0 defeat at Philadelphia on Aug. 17. He went eight innings Tuesday, striking out eight and walking one.

These teams had played five one-run games in the regular season, and the marquee matchup of two of baseball's most dominant pitchers was close and tense.

The NL West champion Padres finally broke through against Johnson in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with no outs on Gwynn's opposite-field double that appeared to nick third baseman Spiers' glove, Vaughn's infield single to third and Caminiti's broken-bat, bloop single to right that fell in just past the reach of second baseman Craig Biggio.

Leyritz, a right-hander starting for left-handed first baseman Wally Joyner, lifted a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field.

Brown struck out the side in the third but not before some tense moments. Former Padres catcher Brad Ausmus singled with one out for Houston's first hit, then ended up on third after consecutive passed balls by Carlos Hernandez while Johnson was batting. Brown struck out Johnson and Craig Biggio.

Notes: In a surprise move, San Diego manager Bruce Bochy picked left-hander Sterling Hitchcock (9-7, 3.93) to face Houston's righty-dominated lineup in Game 3 in San Diego on Saturday. Bochy said the Padres feel Hitchcock will give them a better chance to win and that he can help slow Houston's running game. Houston manager Larry Dierker said facing a lefty will allow him to mix in outfielder Richard Hidalgo and third baseman Sean Berry so they can keep getting at-bats. ... The Padres went with 10 pitchers on their postseason roster in order to carry George Arias, who can spell third baseman Caminiti, who's been bothered by a hip flexor. ... Gwynn appeared to hurt himself sliding into second in the sixth and was replaced in right field in the bottom of the inning by Ruben Rivera. ... Hernandez's miscues marked the first time a catcher had two passed balls in a division series game. Ausmus had one last year against the Braves.


Kevin Brown was unhittable,
striking out 16 Astros
Craig Biggio was victimized twice

Box Score 

San Diego            	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
QVeras 2b             	 4  0  0  0  0  1  .000
1-Sheets pr-2b        	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Gwynn rf              	 3  1  1  0  0  1  .333
RRivera rf            	 2  0  0  0  0  2  .000
GVaughn lf            	 4  1  3  1  0  1  .750
Caminiti 3b           	 4  0  1  0  0  1  .250
Leyritz 1b            	 3  0  1  1  0  0  .333
Joyner 1b             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
SFinley cf            	 3  0  0  0  1  2  .000
CHernandez c          	 4  0  2  0  0  0  .500
Gomez ss              	 3  0  1  0  1  0  .333
KBrown p              	 3  0  0  0  0  2  .000
b-Vander Wal ph       	 1  0  0  0  0  1  .000
Hoffman p             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Totals               	34  2  9  2  2 11

Houston              	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
Biggio 2b             	 2  0  0  0  1  2  .000
Spiers 3b             	 4  1  1  0  0  0  .250
DeBell rf             	 4  0  0  0  0  3  .000
Bagwell 1b            	 4  0  0  0  0  2  .000
Alou lf               	 4  0  1  0  0  2  .250
Everett cf            	 4  0  0  0  0  2  .000
Gutierrez ss          	 3  0  0  0  0  3  .000
Ausmus c              	 3  0  2  0  0  1  .667
RJohnson p            	 2  0  0  0  0  2  .000
a-DClark ph           	 0  0  0  0  1  0   ---
JaPowell p            	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
DHenry p              	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Totals               	30  1  4  0  2 17      

San Diego            	000 001 010--2 9  1
Houston              	000 000 001--1 4  0

a-walked for Ra.Johnson in the 8th. b-struck out for Brown in the 9th.
1-ran for Veras in the 9th.
E--Caminiti (1). LOB--San Diego 9, Houston 5. 2B--Gwynn (1), Spiers (1).
HR--GVaughn (1) off RJohnson. RBIs--GVaughn (1), Leyritz (1).
CS--GVaughn (1). SF--Leyritz. GIDP--Spiers.
Runners left in scoring position--San Diego 5 (QVeras, RRivera, CHernandez 2, Gomez); 
Houston 3 (Biggio, DeBell 2).
Runners moved up--Spiers. DP--San Diego 1 (QVeras, Gomez and Leyritz).

San Diego            	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
KBrown W, 1-0         	  8      2  0  0  2 16 118  0.00
Hoffman S, 1          	  1      2  1  0  0  1  18  0.00

Houston              	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
RJohnson L, 0-1       	  8      9  2  2  1  9 106  2.25
JaPowell              	    2-3  0  0  0  1  1  15  0.00
DHenry                	    1-3  0  0  0  0  1   5  0.00


Game 2 at Houston - Astros 5, Padres 4
Thursday, October 1st 

                1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9    R  H  E
San Diego       0 0 0  0 0 2  0 0 2 -  4  8  1
Houston         1 0 2  0 0 0  0 1 1 -  5 11  1

Win - Wagner. Loss - Miceli. 
HR - Leyritz, Bell.
Time - 2:53. Attendance - 45,550.
HOUSTON - First, Houston blew the lead in the ninth inning. Then, Bill Spiers saved the Astros.

Spiers' third hit of the game, an RBI single with one out in the ninth, lifed Houston to a wild 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday and tied their first-round series 1-1.

The Astros had taken a 4-2 lead into the ninth, but Billy Wagner allowed a two-out, two-run homer to pinch-hitter Jim Leyritz.

Then in the bottom half, Dan Miceli allowed Ricky Gutierrez's infield single to shortstop leading off. Brad Ausmus sacrificed, Trevor Hofffman relieved, and Gutierrez stole third base uncontested. Spiers then lifted a single to right on a 1-2 count.

Wagner, who got the win, was shaky down the stretch, blowing consecutive save chances against the Mets last month by allowing homers to Brian McRae and Mike Piazza.

It was Houston's 49th come-from-behind win this year, and the 28th in its last at-bat. It was also the seventh one-run game the teams have played this year, including San Diego's 2-1 victory in the series opener Tuesday.

Game 3 is Saturday night in San Diego.

The Astros had taken control of the game thanks to the Killer B's, who finally lived up to their nickname.

Jeff Bagwell drove in Houston's first three runs and Craig Biggio scored twice. Derek Bell rifled a 3-1 pitch from former Astros reliever Donne Wall into the left-field seats for a leadoff homer in the eighth and a 4-2 lead.

The B's went 0-for-10 in Tuesday's 2-1 loss after going just 2-for-37 in a sweep by Atlanta in last year's division series.

On Thursday, they combined to go 3-for-11 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Bell snapped a 0-for-21 postseason slump.

The Astros snapped a six-game playoff losing streak dating to the 1986 NL championship series against the Mets.

The Padres almost maintained the momentum from Tuesday, when Kevin Brown struck out 16, the second-most ever in the postseason, to beat Randy Johnson.

Wagner, who converted 30 of 35 save opportunities in the regular season, allowed Ken Caminiti's single with one out in the ninth. Leyritz pinch-hit for Wally Joyner with two out, and hit another dramatic postseason homer.

While with the New York Yankees in 1996, Leyritz hit a dramatic three-run, eighth-inning homer off Atlanta's Mark Wohlers to tie Game 4 of the World Series at 6. The Yankees went on to win the game in 10 innings and the Series in six games.

The previous year, his 15th-inning home run off Tim Belcher won the Game 2 of the Yankees' first-round series against Seattle.

Padres starter Andy Ashby lasted just four innings, the fifth time in his last seven starts that he's gone five innings or less. He allowed three runs and six hits, struck out four and walked one.

Astros starter Shane Reynolds allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.

The series shifts to San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium for games Saturday night and Sunday. Left-handers Mike Hampton (11-7) of Houston and Sterling Hitchcock (9-7) are scheduled to start Game 3.

Biggio singled leading off the first, took third on Spiers' double to left and scored on Bagwell's groundout.

Biggio walked leading off the second, just ahead of the inning's key play. Spiers lifted a fly ball to center field and Steve Finley tried to make a sliding catch, but the ball bounced just in front of him and skipped away for a double, moving Biggio to third. Bagwell singled to center with one out to score Biggio and Spiers.

The Padres got two runs with no outs in the sixth. Quilvio Veras hit a leadoff single and scored when Finley doubled off the manual scoreboard on the left field wall. Left fielder Moises Alou slipped as the ball hit the scoreboard and rolled back toward the infield.

Tony Gwynn singled in Finley, but Reynolds jammed Ken Caminiti for a weak comebacker to start a double play, then struck out Greg Vaughn.

San Diego right-hander Joey Hamilton, who had been in the running to start Game 3, threw three scoreless innings in relief of of Ashby.

Notes: Padres officials expect a sellout crowd of between 64,000 and 65,000 Saturday night, making it the largest crowd ever to see a baseball game in San Diego. ... Reynolds didn't walk a batter in his final three starts, but walked Veras leading off the game. ... Until Brown's performance on Tuesday, no Padres pitcher had struck out more than six batters in a postseason game. ... The Padres started their opening day lineup for just the 31st time in 164 games. .... Biggio, a four-time Gold Glove winner, also made a nice play to end the fourth inning, ranging to his left and diving to stop Wally Joyner's grounder, throwing him out. In the second, second baseman Veras gloved Reynolds' two-hopper scooped the ball to shortstop Chris Gomez to start an inning-ending double play. ... Hamilton made just his fifth career relief appearance.


Ricky Gutierrez goes airborne to
turn a 6th-inning double play
Derek Bell is congratulated after
his 8th-inning home run

Bill Spiers reacts to his
game-winning single in the 9th
Spiers is mobbed by his teammates for clinching the first
post-season win for the team in 11 years

Box Score 

San Diego            	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
QVeras 2b             	 3  1  1  0  1  2  .143
SFinley cf            	 4  1  1  1  0  0  .143
Gwynn rf              	 4  0  1  1  0  0  .286
Caminiti 3b           	 4  1  1  0  0  0  .250
GVaughn lf            	 4  0  0  0  0  2  .375
Joyner 1b             	 3  0  0  0  0  1  .000
c-Leyritz ph-1b       	 1  1  1  2  0  0  .500
CHernandez c          	 4  0  2  0  0  0  .500
1-Sheets pr           	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
GMyers c              	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Gomez ss              	 4  0  1  0  0  1  .286
Ashby p               	 1  0  0  0  0  0  .000
a-Vander Wal ph       	 1  0  0  0  0  0  .000
JHamilton p           	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
b-MaSweeney ph        	 1  0  0  0  0  0  .000
Wall p                	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
d-GArias ph           	 1  0  0  0  0  1  .000
Miceli p              	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Hoffman p             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Totals               	35  4  8  4  1  7     

Houston              	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
Biggio 2b             	 3  2  1  0  2  0  .200
Spiers 3b             	 5  1  3  1  0  1  .444
DeBell rf             	 4  1  1  1  0  1  .125
Bagwell 1b            	 4  0  1  3  0  2  .125
Alou lf               	 4  0  0  0  0  0  .125
Everett cf            	 4  0  1  0  0  1  .125
Eusebio c             	 3  0  1  0  0  2  .333
BWagner p             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Gutierrez ss          	 4  1  3  0  0  1  .429
Reynolds p            	 2  0  0  0  0  1  .000
JaPowell p            	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Ausmus c              	 0  0  0  0  0  0  .667
Totals               	33  5 11  5  2  9      

San Diego            	000 002 002--4  8  1
Houston              	102 000 011--5 11  1


One out when winning run scored.
a-grounded out for Ashby in the 5th. b-grounded out for Hamilton in the 8th. 
c-homered for Joyner in the 9th. d-struck out for Wall in the 9th.
1-ran for Hernandez in the 9th.
E--Joyner (1), Biggio (1). LOB--San Diego 5, Houston 8. 2B--SFinley (1), 
Spiers 2 (3), Eusebio (1). HR--Leyritz (1) off BWagner; DeBell (1) off Wall. 
RBIs--SFinley (1), Gwynn (1), Leyritz 2 (3), Spiers (1), DeBell (1), Bagwell 3 (3). 
SB--Gutierrez (1). S--Reynolds, Ausmus. GIDP--Caminiti, Reynolds.
Runners left in scoring position--San Diego 2 (Caminiti, GArias); 
Houston 5 (Biggio, Spiers, Alou, Everett, Eusebio).
Runners moved up--SFinley, Bagwell, Alou.
DP--San Diego 1 (QVeras, Gomez and Joyner); Houston 1 (Reynolds, Gutierrez and Bagwell).

San Diego            	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
Ashby                 	  4      6  3  3  1  4  64  6.75
JHamilton             	  3      1  0  0  0  3  33  0.00
Wall                  	  1      2  1  1  0  2  20  9.00
Miceli L, 0-1         	    1-3  1  1  1  0  0   8 27.00
Hoffman               	  0      1  0  0  1  0   5  0.00

Houston              	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
Reynolds              	  7      4  2  2  1  5  74  2.57
JaPowell              	  1      0  0  0  0  1  17  0.00
BWagner W, 1-0        	  1      4  2  2  0  1  28 18.00


Game 3 at San Diego - Padres 2, Astros 1
Saturday, October 3rd 

                1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9    R  H  E
Houston         0 0 0  0 0 0  1 0 0 -  1  4  0
San Diego       0 0 0  0 0 1  1 0 x -  2  3  1

Win - Miceli. Loss - Elarton. Save - Hoffman.
HR - Leyritz.  
Time - 2:32. Attendance - 65,235.
SAN DIEGO - Jim Leyritz has become Mr. October, Jr.

Leyritz's latest clutch postseason homer gave San Diego a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros Saturday night, moving the Padres within one victory of their first NL championship series since 1984.

Leyritz hit a low fastball out over the plate from Scott Elarton an estimated 402 feet into the left-field seats with one out in the seventh. Fielder Moises Alou didn't even move.

Leyritz's fifth postseason homer came a half-inning after Padres ace Kevin Brown walked Craig Biggio with two outs and the bases loaded, tying the game at 1. Brown was brought back on three days' rest after his 16-strikeout masterpiece in Game 1 on Tuesday.

Leyritz, acquired from Boston on June 21, had a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Billy Wagner with two outs in the ninth inning to tie Thursday's game at 4. The Astros came back to win 5-4 in the bottom of the inning.

While with the New York Yankees in 1996, Leyritz hit a dramatic three-run, eighth-inning homer against Atlanta's Mark Wohlers to tie Game 4 of the World Series at 6. The Yankees went on to win in 10 innings and defeated the Braves in six games.

The previous year, his 15th-inning home run off Tim Belcher won Game 2 of the Yankees' first-round series against Seattle.

With the Padres facing left-hander Mike Hampton, Leyritz got the start at first base over left-handed hitting Wally Joyner.

He'll also start Game 4 Sunday because he's been the personal catcher for left-hander Sterling Hitchcock going back to their Yankees' days.

San Diego, held hitless for five innings by Hampton, must beat Randy Johnson in Game 4 Sunday in order to clinch the best-of-5 series and avoid having to go back to Houston for a Game 5 Monday night at the Astrodome.

Sunday's 4:30 p.m. PDT start time means Padres batters will have to peer out of the shade and into sunlight to try and pick up pitches from the 6-foot-10 Johnson for the first couple of innings.

Tony Gwynn, the only player left from the Padres' 1984 World Series team, drove in San Diego's other run on a sixth-inning fielder's choice and also threw out Moises Alou at third base in the seventh.

Before 65,235 -- a division series record and the largest ever for a baseball game in San Diego -- Trevor Hoffman struck out the side in the ninth for his second save of the series.

These teams have played six straight one-run games against each other, including all three in this series, and eight total this year.

Brown loaded the bases in the seventh by allowing a single to Carl Everett, on which Moises Alou was thrown out at third on a close play; hitting Ricky Gutierrez on the right calf and walking pinch-hitter Dave Clark before walking Biggio on his 100th pitch.

Right-hander Dan Miceli, who got the win, came on and struck out lefty Bill Spiers on three pitches.

Earlier in the inning, Alou was called out on a throw from Gwynn to third baseman Ken Caminiti on Everett's single in right. Caminiti caught the one-hop throw and dove into Alou to apply a hard tag.

Brown allowed one run and three hits in 6 2-3 innings, struck out five and walked five. Hampton gave up one run and two hits in six innings.

Chris Gomez singled leading off the sixth, the Padres' first hit off the lefty Hampton, and Brown sacrificed. Quilvio Veras singled just beyond the reach of shortstop Ricky Gutierrez, but Gomez took a few steps back toward second to make sure the ball got through, and was held up at third. Gwynn grounded to shortstop, and Veras' slide into second influenced Craig Biggio's throw, allowing Gwynn to reach and Gomez to score.

Notes: A moment of silence was held for former Royals reliever Dan Quisenberry, who died of a brain tumor on Wednesday, and Gene Autry, the Angels' majority owner who died Friday. ... Walter Cronkite threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... The Chargers refused to let the Padres use their locker room for pre- and post-game news conferences, even putting a chain and lock on one set of doors. The Chargers, who use the locker room only on game days, also locked the Padres out of the room when they found out it was being used for daily Sammy Sosa news conferences when the Cubs were here last month. But the superstitious Sosa wouldn't go back in anyway after striking out five times in the first two games of the four-game series.


Quilvio Veras slides hard into Craig
Biggio in the 6th, botching his throw
and allowing a run to score
Moises Alou is gunned down in the 7th trying to stretch a double into a triple

A dejected Alou comtemplates
his baserunning blunder
Jim Leyritz celebrates his
7th-inning home run

Box Score 

Houston              	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
Biggio 2b             	 3  0  0  1  1  1  .125
Spiers 3b             	 3  0  0  0  1  2  .333
DeBell rf             	 4  0  1  0  0  1  .167
Bagwell 1b            	 3  0  0  0  0  1  .091
Alou lf               	 4  0  2  0  0  0  .250
Everett cf            	 4  1  1  0  0  1  .167
Gutierrez ss          	 1  0  0  0  2  1  .375
Ausmus c              	 3  0  0  0  0  0  .333
c-Incaviglia ph       	 1  0  0  0  0  1  .000
Hampton p             	 2  0  0  0  0  2  .000
a-DClark ph           	 0  0  0  0  1  0   ---
Elarton p             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Totals               	28  1  4  1  5 10      

San Diego            	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
QVeras 2b             	 4  0  1  0  0  1  .182
Gwynn rf              	 4  0  0  1  0  1  .182
Hoffman p             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
GVaughn lf            	 3  0  0  0  0  1  .273
Caminiti 3b           	 3  0  0  0  0  0  .182
Leyritz 1b            	 3  1  1  1  0  0  .429
Joyner 1b             	 0  0  0  0  0  0  .000
SFinley cf            	 3  0  0  0  0  2  .100
CHernandez c          	 2  0  0  0  0  0  .400
Gomez ss              	 2  1  1  0  1  0  .333
KBrown p              	 0  0  0  0  0  0  .000
Miceli p              	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
b-MaSweeney ph        	 0  0  0  0  1  0  .000
RRivera rf            	 0  0  0  0  0  0  .000
Totals               	24  2  3  2  2  5      

Houston              	000 000 100--1 4  0
San Diego            	000 001 10x--2 3  0

a-walked for Hampton in the 7th. b-walked for Miceli in the 8th. c-struck out for Ausmus in the 9th.
LOB--Houston 7, San Diego 3. HR--Leyritz (2) off Elarton. RBIs--Biggio (1), Gwynn (2), Leyritz (4).
CS--MaSweeney (1). S--KBrown 2. GIDP--Alou, Everett. 
Runners left in scoring position--Houston 3 (Spiers 2, Ausmus); San Diego 2 (QVeras, GVaughn).
Runners moved up--Ausmus.
DP--San Diego 2 (QVeras and Leyritz), (QVeras, Gomez and Joyner).

Houston              	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
Hampton               	  6      2  1  1  1  2  77  1.50
Elarton L, 0-1        	  2      1  1  1  1  3  26  4.50

San Diego            	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
KBrown                	  6 2-3  3  1  1  5  5 100  0.61
Miceli W, 1-1         	  1 1-3  1  0  0  0  2  13  5.40
Hoffman S, 2          	  1      0  0  0  0  3  14  0.00


Game 4 at San Diego - Padres 6, Astros 1
Sunday, October 4th 

                1 2 3  4 5 6  7 8 9    R  H  E
Houston         0 0 0  1 0 0  0 0 0 -  1  3  1
San Diego       0 1 0  0 0 1  0 4 x -  6  7  1

Win - Hitchcock. Loss - Johnson. 
HR - Joyner, Leyritz. 
Time - 2:39. Attendance - 64,898.
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego Padres are going back to the National League championship series after a 14-year absence, thanks in large part to new hero Jim Leyritz.

And the Big Unit is not going to make it to the World Series as many thought, because the Padres beat Randy Johnson and the Houston Astros 6-1 Sunday night to clinch the tense division series three games to one.

With the crowd of 64,898 hanging on every pitch, Leyritz hit his third homer in as many games and 27-year-old Sterling Hitchcock was dominating in his first playoff start, using a devastating split-fingered fastball to strike out 11 in six innings.

Johnson lost his fifth straight decision in the postseason, tying a major league record. He left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, and reliever Jay Powell gave up pinch-hitter John Vander Wal's two-run triple and Wally Joyner's two-run homer in the eighth.

Trevor Hoffman closed out the ninth for the Padres, who move on to face the Atlanta Braves in the NL championship series starting Wednesday night at Turner Field. Atlanta won five of nine from the Padres this year.

This is the first time the Padres have been this far since 1984, when they beat the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS only to lose the World Series 4-1 to Detroit. Tony Gwynn is the only player left from that team, although Bruce Bochy is the manager and Tim Flannery the third base coach.

The Astros go home frustrated for a second straight year, having been swept by Atlanta in a 1997 division series. Houston have been in five postseason series, and lost all of them.

Johnson was brilliant after being traded from Seattle to Houston on July 31, going 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA. But the Padres beat him twice this series.

Leyritz homered for the third straight game and for the sixth time in 34 postseason at-bats.

He sent the crowd into a frenzy with his 422-foot homer to left-center on a 3-1 pitch from Johnson leading off the second. Leyritz had been just 4-for-37 (.108) with one home run lifetime off Johnson.

The Padres won Saturday night's game 2-1 thanks to Leyritz's solo homer to left with one out in the seventh. On Thursday, his pinch-hit, two-run shot with two out in the ninth off Billy Wagner sailed just inside the foul pole in right, tying the game at 4. The Astros came back and won it 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth.

Leyritz is best known for his dramatic homer for the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the the 1996 World Series against Atlanta. His three-run, eighth-inning shot against Mark Wohlers tied the game at 6. The Yankees went on to win in 10 innings and defeated the Braves in six games.

Trailing 2-1, the Astros loaded the bases without a hit off Joey Hamilton in the seventh. Dan Miceli came on and retired the side on four pitches, striking out Brad Ausmus and getting Carl Everett -- pinch-hitting for Johnson -- to pop up to third.

Miceli came on with the bases loaded and two out Saturday night and struck out Bill Spiers on three pitches.

Jeff Bagwell walked leading off the seventh and eventually reached third, but was caught in a rundown after Joyner fielded Spiers' grounder to first.

The Padres scratched out an unearned run in the sixth to go ahead 2-1. Greg Vaughn hit a high fly with two outs and left fielder Moises Alou had to run in.

Alou tried to make a sliding catch and missed, giving Vaughn a double. Ken Caminiti followed with a chopper to third baseman Sean Berry and stumbled coming out of the box, but Berry made a bad throw that bounced past Bagwell at first base, allowing Vaughn to score.

Hitchcock came in overmatched in playoff experience by Johnson, who had thrown 46 1-3 playoff innings. Hitchcock had made just two relief appearances for the New York Yankees in the 1995 division series against Seattle, totaling 1 2-3 innings.

But the lefty had the Astros swinging at his splitter, which often dove into the dirt. He allowed two hits and one run and walked none.

He was perfect through three innings before a splitter bounced and hit Craig Biggio in the leg. Richard Hidalgo singled and Derek Bell hit into a double play, moving Biggio to third. Bagwell singled to center to score Biggio.

Biggio hit a one-out double in the sixth, but Hidalgo popped up and Hitchcock froze Bell with a curveball to end the inning.

Notes: Doyle Alexander (1973-87) and Joe Bush (1914-23) also lost five straight postseason decisions. ... The Padres scored more than four runs for the first time in 17 games. ... San Diego's Ruben Rivera got the start in center field for Steve Finley because Bruce Bochy didn't want three lefties hitting against Johnson. The other two lefties in the lineup for San Diego were Gwynn and Joyner. ... The crowd was second largest in San Diego baseball history only to Saturday night's 65,235.


Randy Johnson was sharp, striking out 8
and allowing just 3 hits
Johnson reacts to Jim Leyritz's third
home run of the series

Leyritz acknowledges the thunderous
applause after his home run
Reality sinks in for Johnson when the
Padres score four runs in the 8th

Ricky Gutierrez hangs around to watch
his ex-teammates celebrate

Box Score 

Houston              	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
Biggio 2b             	 3  1  1  0  0  1  .182
Hidalgo cf            	 4  0  1  0  0  1  .250
DeBell rf             	 4  0  0  0  0  2  .125
Bagwell 1b            	 3  0  1  1  1  1  .143
Alou lf               	 4  0  0  0  0  0  .188
Berry 3b              	 2  0  0  0  0  1  .000
a-Spiers ph-3b        	 2  0  0  0  0  0  .286
Gutierrez ss          	 2  0  0  0  1  2  .300
Ausmus c              	 3  0  0  0  0  3  .222
RJohnson p            	 2  0  0  0  0  2  .000
b-Everett ph          	 1  0  0  0  0  0  .154
TMiller p             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
DHenry p              	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
JaPowell p            	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Totals               	30  1  3  1  2 13 

San Diego            	AB  R  H BI BB SO  Avg.
QVeras 2b             	 4  0  0  0  0  2  .133
Gwynn rf              	 4  0  1  0  0  0  .200
1-SFinley pr-cf       	 0  1  0  0  0  0  .100
GVaughn lf            	 4  1  2  0  0  0  .333
Caminiti 3b           	 3  1  0  0  1  2  .143
Leyritz c             	 3  1  1  1  0  2  .400
JHamilton p           	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Miceli p              	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
c-Vander Wal ph       	 1  1  1  2  0  0  .333
Hoffman p             	 0  0  0  0  0  0   ---
Joyner 1b             	 3  1  1  2  1  1  .167
RRivera cf-rf         	 4  0  0  0  0  1  .000
Gomez ss              	 2  0  0  0  2  0  .273
Hitchcock p           	 2  0  0  0  0  1  .000
CHernandez c          	 2  0  1  0  0  0  .417
Totals               	32  6  7  5  4  9      

Houston              	000 100 000--1 3  1
San Diego            	010 001 04x--6 7  1

a-grounded into fielder's choice for Berry in the 7th. b-popped out for Ra.Johnson in the 7th. 
c-tripled for Miceli in the 8th. 1-ran for Gwynn in the 8th.
E--Berry (1), Gomez (1). LOB--Houston 5, San Diego 6. 2B--Biggio (1), Gwynn (2), GVaughn (1). 
3B--Vander Wal (1). HR--Joyner (1) off JaPowell; Leyritz (3) off RJohnson. 
RBIs--Bagwell (4), Leyritz (5), Vander Wal 2 (2), Joyner 2 (2). GIDP--DeBell.
Runners left in scoring position--Houston 3 (DeBell, Everett 2); San Diego 2 (QVeras, Leyritz).
Runners moved up--GVaughn. DP--San Diego 1 (Gomez, QVeras and Joyner).

Houston              	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
RJohnson L, 0-2       	  6      3  2  1  1  8  78  1.93
TMiller               	  0      0  0  0  1  0   5  0.00
DHenry                	  1 1-3  2  1  1  0  0  16  5.40
JaPowell              	    2-3  2  3  3  2  1  21 11.57

San Diego            	  IP     H  R ER BB SO  NP  ERA
Hitchcock W, 1-0      	  6      3  1  1  0 11  79  1.50
JHamilton             	    1-3  0  0  0  2  0  15  0.00
Miceli                	  1 2-3  0  0  0  0  2  16  2.70
Hoffman               	  1      0  0  0  0  0  12  0.00

For video and audio highlights, go to the 1997 Season Recap Page.

Information for this page was compiled from Houston Astros media sources and Associated Press reports.