THE ASTRODOME, HOUSTON, TEXAS -- The Cincinnati Reds had the best overall record in Major League Baseball -- and didn't even make it to the postseason. Because of the strike that carved the baseball season into distinct halves, the team with the best record in the first half took on the second-half winner in a best-of-five Division Series prior to the League Championship. The Reds finished second to the Dodgers in the first half, and fell short of the Astros in the second half.
But the teams that did make it, LA and Houston, put on quite a series.
Talk about your pitchers' duel. In Game 1 at the Astrodome, the Dodgers kicked off the series with rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela, who had a perfect record against Houston including two shutouts. The Astros countered with Nolan Ryan, who in his most recent start against LA pitched his record-breaking fifth career no-hitter.
In a predictably low-scoring affair, Ryan -- who put together a 1.69 ERA during the regular season -- picked up where he left off against the Dodgers by allowing just two hits. However, one of them was a solo homer by Steve Garvey that tied the score at 1-1 in the seventh.
With Valenzuela being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth, rookie Dave Stewart was on in the bottom of the ninth when light-hitting Alan Ashby -- who had been given a surprise start that day -- smoked the ball down the right-field line for a walk-off home run.
Houston would go on to win Game 2 in their last at-bat as well before succumbing to the Dodgers in three straight games.
