Summary April The Astros hosted the
San Francisco Giants for
Opening Day on April 5, falling in defeat, 5–4. During the top of the ninth inning, Giants first baseman
J. T. Snow swatted a
sacrifice fly against Astros reliever
Octavio Dotel for the game-winning
run batted in (RBI). One inning earlier,
Barry Bonds drilled a game-tying, three-run
home run off Astros starter
Roy Oswalt. Bonds also
doubled twice and drew a
base on balls to reach base four times.
Richard Hidalgo collected three
hits and went deep for the Astros. On April 7, a 41-year-old
Roger Clemens, also known as "The Rocket," made his Houston Astros debut, to deal to the
San Francisco Giants. A memorable debut, Clemens blanked San Francisco for just one hit over seven innings to earn his 311th career victory and lead a 10–1 rout.
Home runs by
Richard Hidalgo,
Jeff Bagwell and
Jeff Kent bolstered Houston's scoring output. Clemens also struck out nine, including slugger
Barry Bonds twice. At the plate, Clemens
singled in his first
at bat as a National Leaguer. When he hit his sixth career
grand slam against the
Milwaukee Brewers on April 9, first baseman
Jeff Bagwell tied a club record. The Colt .45s/Astros franchise record was established by
Bob Aspromonte, who hit six from the
1963 to the
1966 seasons. Bagwell collated five RBI while Hidalgo added four. Each of Berkman, Bagwell, and Hidalgo doubled.
Wade Miller picked up his first victory of the season following six innings with two runs allowed, leading n 13–7 victory over the
Milwaukee Brewers.
Richard Hidalgo opened the season with four successive multi-hit bouts, and five of the first six. On April 9, Hidalgo produced his 11th career four-RBI bout. Through the first six contests, Hidalgo
batted .500 / .538
on-base percentage (OBP) / .833
slugging percentage (SLG) / 1.372
on-base plus slugging (OPS), two doubles, two home runs, and nine RBI.
Brandon Backe's immaculate inning On April 15,
Brandon Backe hurled the sixth immaculate inning club history, whiffing
Bill Hall,
Scott Podsednik, and
Craig Counsell of the
Milwaukee Brewers during the eighth inning. Backe had come in relief of
Mike Gallo for the seventh inning though the Astros trailed, 6–2. Backe tossed a perfect seventh, getting a strikeout of
Chad Moeller to end the seventh and start four successive strikeouts. Backe was preceded among Astros pitcher by
Shane Reynolds on July 15,
1999, and succeeded by
Will Harris on September 27,
2019. Clemens succeeded
Roy Oswalt in August
2002 the most recent Houston moundsman to have been so recognized.
May with the Astros in 2004. Clemens passed
Steve Carlton to move into then-second place behind
Nolan Ryan on the
all-time strikeout list on May 6 against the
Pittsburgh Pirates in a 6–2 victory while striking out nine and bringing his career total to 4,140. In the fifth inning, Clemens whiffed
Raúl Mondesí swinging for the milestone; however, he would be displaced back into ranking third just a few years later by
Randy Johnson. Starting things off May 8, Biggio stroked a leadoff single for the 2,500th hit of his career to become the first player in franchise history to reach the mark, all with the Astros. Biggio added two solo home runs to round out a 3-for-4 day. However, the Astros'
bullpen was unable to clutch the lead, as the
Atlanta Braves rallied for a 5–4 win in 10 innings. From May 14 to June 11, second baseman
Jeff Kent recorded a 25-game
hitting streak to eclipse
Tony Eusebio's streak of 24 for longest in franchise history, which he accomplished in
2000. Kent raised his
batting average from .284 to .315 while stroking 17
extra-base hits to also raise his
on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) from .837 to .902. His achievement stood as the franchise leader until
2006, when
Willy Taveras hit in 30 straight. Kent's streak led the National League in 2004, and was second-longest in the Major Leagues to
Carlos Lee of the
Chicago White Sox (28 games). In May, outfielder
Lance Berkman produced a .785
slugging percentage with 24
runs batted in (RBI), winning his first career National League
Player of the Month honors. Berkman became the first Astro win the Player of the Month Award since
Jeff Bagwell in July
2001.
June The
Milwaukee Brewers recorded an
immaculate inning versus the Astros on June 13. However, in the Brewers' next at bat, reliever
Brad Lidge recorded four strikeouts. Lidge became the third Astros pitcher to get four strikeouts in one inning, succeeding
bullpen mate
Octavio Dotel by one year and two days on June 11,
2003, as both the most recent Major Leaguer and most recent Astro. In a three-team deal on June 28 involving the
Kansas City Royals and
Oakland Athletics, the Astros acquired center fielder
Carlos Beltrán. The Royals sent Beltrán to Houston for minor league catcher
John Buck and cash. The A's sent minor leaguers pitcher
Mike Wood and first baseman
Mark Teahen to the Royals. The Astros sent
relief pitcher Octavio Dotel to the A's. Dotel, the Astros'
closer, had a 0–4 W–L with a 3.12 ERA in innings pitched, 50 strikeouts and 14
saves in 17 opportunities. He had replaced
Billy Wagner in that role following his trade to Philadelphia in the previous off-season. On June 25, Beltrán made his debut as an Astro, going 2-for-4 with a double in a 2–1 defeat to the
Texas Rangers. Beltrán concluded a 15-game hitting streak that spanned June 15 to July 1, overlapping his time with Kansas City and Houston. Beltrán scored 17 runs, hit 7 home runs, drove in 14, and drew 10
base on balls. He hit .377 with a .787 slugging percentage.
July, pre-All-Star break Carlos Beltrán homered from both sides of the plate on July 1 to become the sixth
switch hitter in club history to accomplish this feat, while producing his first multi-home run game as a member of the Astros. The tenth multi-home run game of Beltrán's career, this was the third of which featured switch-hit home runs. On July 3, Enberg belted a grand slam during bottom of the fifth to cut the Rangers' lead to 6–5. Three batters later,
Mike Lamb followed with a
pinch-hit, two run single to complete the comeback. Houston answered with 7 in the frame to answer Texas' six-run barrage in the top of the fifth. The teams swapped two runs each, but Houston held on for the 10–8 win. The Astros fired
manager Jimy Williams and replaced him with
Phil Garner at the
All-Star break. With a 44–44 record, the team had been slumping after spending the first month and a half of the season in first place in the
National League Central division. That was considered a disappointment due to hopes of reaching the
World Series after signing free agent starting pitchers Clemens and Pettitte, and acquiring Beltrán weeks earlier.
Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Minute Maid Park The
2004 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 75th playing of the midseason exhibition
baseball game between the
all-stars of the
American League (AL) and
National League (NL). The game was held on July 13, 2004, at
Minute Maid Park in
Houston, Texas, the Houston Astros' home
stadium. The previous All-Star Game held in
Houston was in
1986 in the
Astrodome. In the
Home Run Derby,
Miguel Tejada of the
Baltimore Orioles defeated Berkman in the final round, 5–4. Tejada established records of both 27 home runs overall, and 15 in a single round, while Berkman hit the longest home run of the competition at . For the first time in franchise history, three Astros manned the starting lineup;
Roger Clemens, the MVP of the 1986 Classic, was the starting pitcher,
Jeff Kent started at second base, while Berkman started in center field. Clemens was the Astros' first starting pitcher in the Midsummer Classic since
Mike Scott in
1987, Kent was the first since Biggio in
1998, while Berkman joined
César Cedeño in
1973 at center field.
Seven years earlier, Bagwell and Biggio comprised the Astros core as two starters for the National League for the first time. Beltrán, first named to the
American League team before the trade, was added to the National League team as a reserve. The game had an attendance of 41,886 and boxing legend
Muhammad Ali threw the ceremonial first pitch of the game. The final result was the American League defeating the National League 9–4, thus awarding an AL team (which would eventually be the
Boston Red Sox)
home-field advantage in the
World Series.
August A
triple play and a seven-run seventh inning on August 19 against Philadelphia highlighted an Astros 12–10 win. With the Phillies leading 7–2,
Todd Pratt grounded into a bases-loaded triple play in the fifth inning, Houston's first in 13 years. Berkman,
Craig Biggio, and
Eric Bruntlett each homered in the seventh inning. On August 24,
southpaw Andy Pettitte underwent successful surgery to repair his left elbow and would miss the rest of the season. He was expected to be ready for
Opening Day of 2005. The surgery closed a campaign in which he faced higher-than-normal struggles and ineffective results. The 11 grand slams tied Kent for 11th all-time MLB history.
Willy Taveras made his Major League debut on September 6, Taveras substituted in center field for
Carlos Beltrán in the top of the eighth inning in an 11–5 victory over the
Cincinnati Reds. Leading off the bottom of eighth for his first major league
plate appearance, Taveras struck out swinging versus
John Riedling. Earlier, in the bottom of the fourth,
Jeff Bagwell (23),
Lance Berkman (26),
Jeff Kent (21), and Backe all homered off Reds starter
Aaron Harang (8–8). Backe, who reached base in each of his three plate appearances, also thumped a single and drew a walk.
Mike Lamb added two hits and three RBI for Houston. On the mound, Backe (3–2) tossed seven innings to garner the victory as he surrendered one run, scattered seven hits and one walk, and struck out eight. On September 18, Bagwell collected his 1,500th career RBI with a single in the third inning against the Brewers. Two innings later, he
homered for his 1,500th
run scored, becoming just 29th player in MLB history and first Astro to reach both milestones.
Performance overview The Astros won 36 of their final 46 games to capture the National League
Wild Card. The NL Central division champion
St. Louis Cardinals steamrolled their way to a major league-best 105–57 record, leaving Houston 13 games behind. Meanwhile, the Astros finished just a game ahead of the
San Francisco Giants to take their first playoff berth since
2001. The Astros reached the 89-win threshold for the seventh time in franchise history, while qualifying for their eighth
playoff appearance, via their first-ever
Wild Card title. Since the inception of the NL Central division in
1994, Houston had concluded the regular season in either first or second place ten times in 11 seasons, excluding the
2000 campaign. Furthermore, during a span of 17 seasons commencing in
1992, the 2004 campaign signified the twelfth of 15 having completed with a .500 winning percentage or above. The 2004 stage was also the fourth of five in succession with 84 or more wins—another club record—which remained so until
2015 to
2025, excluding the shortened
2020 season. Bagwell finished with 27 home runs, extending a club-record streak of 12 seasons with at least 20 home runs. Berkman also became the first Astros outfielder to produce 30 or more home runs in three different campaigns, following his
2001 (34) and
2002 (42) campaigns. Clemens won the NL
Cy Young Award to join
Mike Scott in
1986 as the second Astro to win this award. The seventh such award for Clemens, he extended his major league record for this award, and became just the fourth hurler to win the award in both leagues. Meanwhile, Oswalt became the fourth Astros pitcher to lead the league in wins (20), following
Joe Niekro in (21 in
1979), Scott (20 in
1989), and
Mike Hampton (22 in
1999).
Season standings National League Central Record vs. opponents Transactions • April 17, 2004: Kirk Saarloos was traded by the Houston Astros to the Oakland Athletics for Chad Harville. • June 7, 2004:
Hunter Pence was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 2nd round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed July 14, 2004. • June 7, 2004: J.R. Towles was drafted by the Houston Astros in the 20th round of the 2004 amateur draft. Player signed June 16, 2004. • June 17, 2004: Dave Weathers was traded by the New York Mets with Jeremy Griffiths to the Houston Astros for Richard Hidalgo. • June 28, 2004: Carlos Beltrán was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the Houston Astros in a three-team deal, which also sent relief pitcher Octavio Dotel from the Astros to the Oakland Athletics, while the Royals picked up Oakland minor leaguers (pitcher Mike Wood and third-baseman Mark Teahen) and Astros catcher John Buck. • September 7, 2004: Dave Weathers was released by the Houston Astros.
Roster ==Player stats==