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The 2019 season will be long-remembered by Astros fans for both the good and the bad that took place. The good was very, very good. But the bad was difficult to live with.

After losing the ALCS to Boston in 2018 and watching free agents like Dallas Keuchel, Charlie Morton, Marwin Gonzalez and Brian McCann leave, Houston replenished with lefthander Wade Miley, who signed a one-year deal, All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley and catcher Robinson Chirinos, who begged to sign with the Astros through his Venezuelan friend, Jose Altuve.

The 1-2 rotation punch of Justin Verlander (21-6, 2.58 ERA) and Gerrit Cole (20-5, 2.50) sizzled all year although Cole got off to a slow start. Verlander won the Cy Young Award for the second time. Cole won the league's ERA title and strikeout title (326 Ks), breaking J.R. Richard's franchise single-season record (313, set in 1979) in the process. Cole started a personal winning streak at the end of May that lasted all the way through to the World Series.

For five months, Miley was following their success closely behind (13-4, 3.06 through August) but he imploded in September (1-2, 16.68), causing a lack of confidence in the southpaw for the rest of the year.

With Lance McCullers out for the year due to Tommy John surgery, the final two rotation spots were a hodgepodge between Brad Peacock (7-6, 4.12, 15 starts), Corbin Martin (1-1, 5.59, 5 starts), Collin McHugh (4-5, 4.70, 8 starts) and Framber Valdez (4-7, 5.86 ERA, 8 starts) until it was clear the Astros needed more help. Each struggled with injuries or ineffectiveless.

At the trade deadline, Houston shipped outfielder Derek Fisher to Toronto, principally for pitchers Joe Biagini (0-1, 7.36) and Aaron Sanchez (2-0, 4.82, 4 starts) then pulled off the jawdropper of acquiring veteran All-Star and former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke (8-1, 3.02, 10 starts) for Martin and three prospects. After Sanchez went down with an injury, Jose Urquidy (2-1, 3.95, 7 starts) came up from the minors and showed resilience.

The bullpen was anchored by Roberto Osuna (4-3, 2.63, 38 saves) who had solid help from Ryan Pressly (2-3, 2.32, 3 saves) and Will Harris (4-1, 1.50, 4 saves). Relief also came from Chris Devenski (2-3, 4.83), Hector Rondon (3-2, 3.71), Josh James (5-1, 4.70) and a late contribution from Joe Smith (1-0, 1.80) who had come back from achilles surgery. Although Valdez, Cionel Perez (1-1, 10.00) and Reymin Guduan (1-0, 11.81) were tried, Houston spent much of the year without an effective lefty option in the pen.

The Astros won 36 games by five runs or more, demonstrating the offense was smoking much of the season as well. Infielder Alex Bregman (.296, 41 HRs, 112 RBIs) finished a close second in the MVP voting while Brantley (.311, 22, 90), George Springer (.292, 39, 96) and Yuli Gurriel (.298, 31, 104) surrounded him with sluggers. Altuve (.298, 31, 74) and Carlos Correa (.279, 21, 59) fought through injuries to add still more punch.

Then a rookie came up from AAA that sent the offense into hyperdrive. His name was Yordan Alvarez and he was acquired from the Dodgers in a 2016 trade for reliever Josh Fields. A slender 6-5 slugger from Cuba, Alvarez hit .343 with 23 homers in his first two months in the minors and seemed to slow down only a little when he came up to the majors.

He was not only prolific (.313, 27, 78 in 87 games), Yordan was launching missiles to places at Minute Maid Park that had previously been unreached. In batting practice, he smashed one bomb that struck the main scoreboard above the second deck in right field, knocking the lights out of that section. On another occasion, he homered into the third deck just inside the right field foul line. Alvarez would go on to claim the AL Rookie of the Year Award unanimously despite the late start.

With record-setting performances from the mound and at the plate, the Astros quickly set the pace in the AL West. They reeled off a pair of 10-game winning streaks and blasted off to a 38-20 mark through the end of May and an eight-game cushion in their division.

As May turned to June and injuries to key players climbed, Houston limped through a 15-12 month. They reached the All-Star Break with a 57-33 record and a seven-game lead. For the third straight year, the Astros placed six players on the AL All-Star squad.

The Astros also re-acquired veteran catcher Martin Maldonado (.202, 6, 10) at the trade deadline to back up Chirinos (.238, 17, 58) instead of Max Stassi (.167, 1, 3) who was dealt to the Angels. The addition of Greinke was said to make Houston favorites to win the World Series.

Through August and September, the record books were getting constantly updated. On August 3rd, Sanchez started the first six innings of a no-hitter against Seattle. Harris, Biagini and Devenski tossed an inning each in the gem. On August 10th, Sanchez made his second start as an Astro and got the win as the bats exploded for a club-record 23 runs in a 23-2 massacre, the most lopsided win in franchise history. Alvarez led the demolition with three homers and seven RBIs.

Houston closed out August with an 88-49 record and an 8-1/2 game lead in their division. Despite this, Houston still trailed the Yankees by one game for the league's best record. Soon, General Manager Jeff Luhnow predicted the Astros would finish with the best record in the majors, causing Yankee and Los Angeles Dodger fans to bristle.

Justin Verlander upped his game on September 1st, no-hitting the Blue Jays, 2-0, in Toronto with a 14-strikeout masterpiece. Craig Biggio's son, Cavan, drew a first-inning walk. That would be the only baserunner Verlander allowed.

Greinke made his own bid for immortality on September 25th when he tossed 8-1/3rd innings of no-hit ball (one walk) in Seattle before surrendering ninth-inning singles to Austin Nola and Tim Lopes. Harris came on to complete the 3-0 shutout.

While the division title was a foregone conclusion, the Astros moved ahead of the Yankees in the final week to claim the top seed in the AL playoffs and finish with a club-record 107-win season. Masterful on the road the previous two years, the Astros were nearly unbeatable at home in 2019 - going 60-21 (.741) at Minute Maid. Luhnow had been proven right but the postseason ahead would push the proud (some would say cocky) team to their limits.

The ALDS... (Full Recap)

Tampa Bay overtook Oakland in the Wild Card playoff and fell behind the Astros, 0-2, to begin the best-of-five series. Behind Verlander and Cole, Houston dominated, 6-2 and 3-1, at home and flew off with an eye to wrap up the series quickly. However the Rays, who always give the Astros fits at Tropicana Field, ambushed the AL West winners with 10-3 and 4-1 decisions to square the series and send it back to Houston for a decisive Game 5.

Cole took the mound and was his masterful self. Gerrit's eight innings of two-hit dominance, supported by a four-run first, gave the Astros a 6-1 triumph and vaulted Houston into their third straight LCS. Altuve blasted two doubles and three homers in the series.

The ALCS... (Full Recap)

The 106-win Yankees had crushed the Twins in three straight and got to rest up before facing Houston. It showed in Game 1 when Masahiro Tanaka blanked the Astros, 7-0. Game 2 was a 2-2 dogfight that went into extra innings before Correa spanked an opposite field solo homer against former Astro J.A. Happ for a 3-2 walk-off victory.

The Astros admitted they were intimidated at Yankee Stadium during the 2017 ALCS and realized they could not let that happen again. Cole calmed their nerves with a 4-1 gem in Game 3 and Houston outlasted the Bombers, 8-3, two nights later thanks to homers by Springer and Correa. Verlander lost a pitching duel to James Paxton in Game 5 to send the series back to Houston with the Astros clinging to a 3-2 lead.

Both teams were out of quality starting pitchers for Game 6 and looked to cobble together a game from their bullpens. Houston took a three-run lead in the first and nursed it until the ninth when Osuna gave up a two-run homer to D.J. LaMaheiu that tied the game at 4-4. New York sent out flamethrowing Aroldis Chapman in relief. Springer drew a two-out walk before Altuve belted a 2-1 off-speed pitch out to left for a 6-4 ALCS-clinching walk-off homer. Houston was returning to the World Series but anger and accusations from New York swelled.

The World Series... (Full Recap)

A wild card team with a penchant for playoff chokes, the 93-69 Washington Nationals were considered heavy underdogs but there was a fire that burned for the franchise that was making their first World Series appearance since joining the NL in 1969 as the Montreal Expos.

They appeared to be peaking at just the right time as they defeated the Dodgers then crushed the Cardinals during the playoffs. The Nats broke Cole's personal winning streak in the Game 1 opener, 5-1, before stomping the Astros at Minute Maid in Game 2, 12-3.

Heading to DC in an 0-2 hole, the Astros got clutch pitching performances from Greinke and the bullpen in Game 3 with a 4-1 victory. Then unheralded rookie Urquidy was given the start for Game 4 and he outpitched Patrick Corbin in an 8-1 beatdown to even the series. Chirinos and Bregman struck home runs. Behind Cole, the Astros took Game 5, 7-1, as the Astros returned to Houston with a 3-2 lead and needing just one win to clinch their second World's Championship in three years.

However, Stephen Strasburg outdueled Verlander with a 7-2 verdict in Game 6, dropping Verlander's career World Series record to 0-6. In Game 7, Max Scherzer would square off against Greinke with the title on the line.

Gurriel homered early and Correa added an RBI single for a 2-0 edge while Greinke coasted through the Nationals' order for six innings. With Cole watching from the bullpen for emergency relief, Greinke gave up a solo homer to Anthony Rendon in the seventh then was pulled after walking the next batter. Harris then threw an 0-1 slider to Howie Kendrick that the veteran slapped over the fence down the right field line to give Washington a 3-2 lead.

Suddenly, the pressure on Washington eased while it tightened around Houston's neck. The Nats added three more runs to win the title in a 6-2 upset. In this bizarre series, the home team lost all seven games. Houston fans were dejected but optimistic for next season until a bombshell was dropped on them two weeks later.

Key Batters		HR	RBI	AVG
C	Robinson Chirinos	17	58	.238
1B	Yuli Gurriel	31	104	.298
2B	Jose Altuve	31	74	.298
3B	Alex Bregman	41	112	.296
SS	Carlos Correa	21	59	.279
LF	Michael Brantley	22	90	.311
CF	George Springer	39	96	.292
RF	Josh Reddick	14	56	.275
DH	Yordan Alvarez	27	78	.313
OF	Jake Marisnick	10	34	.233
IF	Tyler White	3	21	.225
IF	Aledmys Diaz	9	40	.271
C	Max Stassi	1	3	.167
Key Pitchers		W	L	ERA
SP	Justin Verlander	21	6	2.58
SP	Gerrit Cole	20	5	2.50
SP	Wade Miley	14	6	3.98
SP	Brad Peacock	7	6	4.12
SP	Zack Greinke	8	1	3.02
CL	Roberto Osuna	4	3	2.63
RP	Collin McHugh	4	5	4.70
RP	Ryan Pressly	2	3	2.32
RP	Will Harris	4	1	1.50
RP	Chris Devenski	2	3	4.83

Verlander: Second Cy Award (c) Getty Images

Cole: Led AL in Ks, ERA (c) Associated Press

Brantley: Key free agent (c) Houston Chronicle

Bregman: 2nd in MVP vote (c) Associated Press

Gurriel: Hats off to big year (c) Houston Chronicle

Alvarez: Top AL rookie (c) Associated Press

Altuve: Lifts Astros to Series (c) Associated Press