2004 National League Championship Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season St. Louis Cardinals (4) Tony La Russa 105–57, .648, GA: 13 Houston Astros (3) Phil Garner 92–70, .568, GB: 13
Dates	October 13–21
MVP	Albert Pujols (St. Louis)
Umpires	Tim Welke Eric Cooper Gary Darling Mike Winters Angel Hernandez Ed Rapuano
Broadcast
Television	Fox
TV announcers	Thom Brennaman,Steve Lyons,Bob Brenly andChris Myers
Radio	ESPN
Radio announcers	Dan Shulman andDave Campbell
NLDS	St. Louis Cardinals overLos Angeles Dodgers (3–1) Houston Astros overAtlanta Braves (3–2)
← 2003 NLCS 2005 →

The2004 National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a playoff series inMajor League Baseball’s2004 postseason played from October 13 to 21 to determine the champion of theNational League. It featured the Central Division champion and overall #1 seedSt. Louis Cardinals, and the wild-card qualifyingHouston Astros. This marked the first time in either Major League that two teams from the Central Division met in a Championship Series.

In a series in which all seven games were won by the home team, the Cardinals won 4–3 to advance to theWorld Series against theAmerican League championBoston Red Sox. The Red Sox reached their first World Series since1986, with the Cardinals playing in their first since1987; the Astros were denied a first ever World Series berth, though they would win a rematch with the Cardinals in theNLCS the following season. While the NLCS was an exciting back-and-forth series, it was overshadowed in media attention by Boston's 3–0 comeback in the ALCS.

The Cardinals would go on to lose in a sweep to theBoston Red Sox in theWorld Series in four games.

St. Louis won the series, 4–3.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004 atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri 58 °F (14 °C), mostly clear

The series opener at St. Louis'Busch Stadium was a slugfest involving five home runs, 17 runs, and 22 hits, eventually won by St. Louis, 10–7. Houston struck the first blow of the series whenCarlos Beltrán hit a two-run home run in the top of the first inning after a leadoff single off Woody Williams. The Cardinals answered with a home run byAlbert Pujols in the bottom half after a one-out triple offBrandon Backe, tying the game at two. Houston took a 4–2 lead in the fourth inning on a two-run home run byJeff Kent, but the Cards tied it again in the fifth onLarry Walker's RBI double off Backe andScott Rolen's RBI single off Chad Qualls. In the sixth,Edgar Renteria andReggie Sanders hit back-to-back leadoff singles before a sacrifice bunt moved them up one base. Pinch hitterRoger Cedeno's groundout scored Renteria to put the Cardinals up 5-4 for the first time in this game.Tony Womack followed with an RBI single, then stole second before scoring on Walker's single aided by shortstopJose Vizcaino's error. After Qualls walked Pujols,Chad Harville in relief walked Rolen to load the bases beforeJim Edmonds cleared them with a double to put the Cardinals up 10–4. The Astros cut it to 10−6 with a two-run home run fromLance Berkman in the eighth offRay King. Next inning, a two-out solo home run fromMike Lamb offJulián Tavárez made it 10−7.Craig Biggio then hit a ground-rule double before Jason Isringhausen relieved Julián Tavárez and got Beltran to ground out to first on the first pitch to end the game.^[1] All seven of the Astros' runs in Game 1 were scored on home runs.

Thursday, October 14, 2004 atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri 48 °F (9 °C), scattered showers

The Astros scored three runs off Cardinals'Matt Morris on home runs by Carlos Beltran in the first and Morgan Ensberg in the fourth. Lance Berkman added an RBI single in the fifth with two on, but in the bottom of the inning, two-run home runs from Larry Walker off starterPeter Munro and Scott Rolen off reliever Chad Harville put the Cardinals up 4−3. The Astros tied it in the seventh offKiko Calero when Berkman hit a leadoff double, stole third and scored on Ensberg's single, but the Cardinals retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning with back-to-backhome runs fromAlbert Pujols andScott Rolen offDan Miceli. Jason Isringhausen pitched a scoreless ninth despite allowing two walks as the Cardinals' 6−4 win put them up 2−0 in the series heading to Houston.

Saturday, October 16, 2004 atMinute Maid Park inHouston, Texas 74 °F (23 °C), roof closed

In the first game of the series played in Houston'sMinute Maid Park, the Cardinals went up 1−0 in the first on Larry Walker's one-out home run, but the Astros tied it in the bottom of the inning off Jeff Suppan on Lance Berkman's RBI single before Jeff Kent's two-run home run put them up 3−1. Jim Edmonds' leadoff home run in the second cut it to 3−2, but the Astros added two insurance runs in the eighth on home runs from Carlos Beltran off Dan Haren and Berkman offRay King.Roger Clemens pitched seven innings for the 5−2 win, which left the Astros trailing 2–1 in the series.

Sunday, October 17, 2004 atMinute Maid Park inHouston, Texas 74 °F (23 °C), roof closed

The Cardinals struck first in Game 4 whenRoy Oswalt walked Larry Walker with one out before Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run. Scott Rolen then doubled, moved to third on a groundout, and after a walk, scored onJohn Mabry's single to put the Cardinals up 3−0. The Astros cut it to 3−1 in the bottom of the inning when Carlos Beltran walked with one out offJeff Bagwell's double offJason Marquis. In the top of the third, Pujols drew a leadoff walk, moved to third on Rolen's single and scored onJim Edmonds' sacrifice fly, but the Astros cut the lead to 4−3 when Beltran and Bagwell singled with one out and scored on Lance Berkman's double. Pujols's single with two on in the fourth put the Cardinals up 5−3, but the Astros cut the lead back to one on Berkman's leadoff home run in the sixth off Kiko Calero. Jose Vizcaino doubled two outs later and scored onRaul Chavez's single to tie the game. Next inning, Beltran's home run off Julián Tavárez put the Astros up 6−5. Brad Lidge pitched two shutout innings for the save as the Astros evened the series with the Cardinals at two games apiece. Beltrán tied records for the most home runs in a single postseason (8) and most consecutive postseason games with a home run (5). The latter record would be broken byDaniel Murphy in Game Four of the2015 NLCS.

Monday, October 18, 2004 atMinute Maid Park inHouston, Texas 74 °F (23 °C), roof closed

The Astros defeated the Cardinals 3–0 in Game 5 with Jeff Kent driving in the winning runs with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth off Jason Isringhausen. Astros starterBrandon Backe took aperfect game into the fifth inning, when he walked Cardinals center fielderJim Edmonds, and allowed only one hit (a single to second basemanTony Womack in the sixth) in eight innings. The Cardinals' Woody Williams was nearly as effective, allowing only one hit (a two-out single toJeff Bagwell in the first) and two walks over seven innings. Kent's home run was the first walkoff postseason home run for an Astro player sinceAlan Ashby in Game 1 of the1981 National League Division Series.^[8] Houston led the best-of-seven series 3–2 and was one win away from their first World Series appearance.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri 57 °F (14 °C), overcast

Returning to St. Louis,Matt Morris started Game 6 for the Cardinals, as did Pete Munro for the Astros. The scoring began with Carlos Beltrán walking with one out, stealing second, moving to third on a single, and scoring on Lance Berkman's sacrifice fly in the first. The Cardinals responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run home run by Albert Pujols. In the third, Beltrán singled with two outs and scored onJeff Bagwell's double to tie the game. Again, the Cardinals responded whenÉdgar Rentería hit a two-run single scoring Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen in the bottom of the inning.Mike Lamb's home run in the fourth cut the Cardinals' lead to 4−3. In the top of the ninth inning Bagwell hit a two-out single off Jason Isringhausen, scoringMorgan Ensberg for the tying run. The game went into extra innings and ended whenJim Edmonds, who hit 42 home runs in the regular season, hit a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th off Dan Miceli, sending the series to a Game 7 showdown.

Thursday, October 21, 2004 atBusch Stadium (II) inSt. Louis, Missouri 60 °F (16 °C), overcast

The final, deciding Game 7 started off with Astros' leadoff manCraig Biggio smacking a home run in the game's first at-bat off Cardinals' starterJeff Suppan to make it 1–0. The Astros' threat continued in the second by putting two men on, but, thanks to a tremendous catch by center fielderJim Edmonds, the Cardinals were able to get out of the inning unscathed. In the third, however, the Astros made it 2–0 withCarlos Beltrán, who walked and stole second, scoring on Jeff Bagwell's sacrifice fly aided by Edmonds's error. The Cardinals cut it to 2−1 in the bottom of the inning when Tony Womack hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on Jeff Suppan's bunt groundout. Then in the sixthAlbert Pujols doubled to score Roger Cedeno from third to tie the game and Scott Rolen put the Redbirds ahead with a two-run home run offRoger Clemens.Fox Sports play-by-play announcerThom Brennaman was on the call for Rolen's homer:

"Now Rolen, with the chance to give the Cardinals the lead for the first time tonight...Which he does, is it gone? YES!"

St. Louis added another run in the eighth off Roy Oswalt when pinch hitterMarlon Anderson hit a leadoff double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Larry Walker's single.Jason Isringhausen shut down Houston in the ninth to win the Cardinals their first National League pennant in 17 years.

2004 NLCS(4–3):St. Louis Cardinals overHouston Astros

TheCardinals were swept by theBoston Red Sox in four games in the2004 World Series. The Cardinals, who scored 56 runs and hit 18 homers over 11 games in the first two postseason series, scored just 12 runs and hit two home runs in the four games of the World Series, and only scored three runs combined over the final three games. Boston won its first World Series in 86 years and broke theCurse of the Bambino.

The following year, the Cardinals and Astrosmet again in the NLCS under similar circumstances, the Cardinals having won the division and securing the best record in the league, and having finished more than 10 games in front of the wild-card winning Astros. This time, theAstros defeated theCardinals, four games to two, to reach their first ever World Series.Roy Oswalt, who had pedestrian numbers in the 2004 NLCS, was dominant in the rematch, going 2–0 with a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings. However, the Astros, like the 2004 Cardinals, were swept in theWorld Series by a curse-breaking team – theChicago White Sox, who won their first title in 88 years and broke theCurse of the Black Sox.

The 2004 NLCS was the second ever postseason series to feature multiplewalk-off home runs, the first being the1988 World Series; this has since happened in the2014 NLCS and2019 ALCS. The 2004 NLCS is the only one of the four to have featured walk-off home runs in consecutive games.^{[citation needed]} In 2011,Fangraphs, using a mathematical formula, named their 2004 NLCS match-up the 8th best postseason series of all-time.^[9]

• 2004 NLCS at Baseball-Reference

• National League Championship Series
• 2004 Major League Baseball season
• St. Louis Cardinals postseason
• Houston Astros postseason
• 2004 in sports in Missouri
• 2004 in sports in Texas
• 2004 in Houston
• 2000s in St. Louis
• October 2004 sports events in the United States

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