1986 Houston Astros (96-66)

Manager: Hal Lanier

After two postseason losses, the Astros began to decline. So in 1985, owner John McMullen hired Dick Wagner as general manager and Hal Lanier as manager. Lanier brought in his "run-n-gun" style of play to players such as Jose Cruz, Kevin Bass, Alan Ashby, and Billy Hatcher. Before, Mike Scott was sent to Roger Craig to learn the split-finger fastball. With all of this, many Houston fans expected a slow start from their Astros. But with Lanier's style of box office baseball, the Astros won 15 of their first 21 games. By the All-Star break, the Astros were 1 game behind San Francisco for first place. In the All-Star game, 4 Astros represented their hometown fans. After the break, the Astros won 5 come-from-behind games in a row. As for Scott, he finished the season with an 18-8 record with a Cy Young Award to fall back on. Speaking of Scott, he no-hit the Giants on the day the Astros won their second NL Western Division Championship. The Astros won 96 games and finished the season 10 games ahead of their archrival Cincinnati Reds.

In the NLCS, they met the New York Mets, the best team in baseball. But Mike Scott halted the mighty Mets to a shutout. But the Mets would win the 2nd contest. Heading to New York City, the Astros got off to a hot start. But in the bottom of the 9th, with ace closer Dave Smith on the mound, Smith gave up a game-winning homer to Lenny Dykstra. After Scott dominated the 4th game, the Mets earned revenge in game 5 thanks to a Gary Carter RBI off of pitcher Charlie Kerfeld. By the time the teams headed back to Houston, the Mets led the series 3-2. If the Mets did not win the 6th game, they would have to face Mike Scott in the 7th game. With the Astros leading 3-0, the Mets would tie the game up to send it into extras. With the Mets scoring a run in the 14th, Houston outfielder Billy Hatcher hit a homer to tie the game at 4. But in the 16th, the Mets would score 3 runs. By the bottom of the frame, Houston already scored 2 runs. With the tying run on base and Kevin Bass at the plate, Bass struck out and the Mets won their 3rd pennant.