games while pitching a career high 239 innings and striking out 204 and walking 44 while finishing 9th in Cy Young Award voting. He started the 1997 season as the starter against the Atlanta Braves in the Astrodome. He went eight innings while allowing one run on seven hits in a 2–1 victory. He went 9–10 with a 4.23 ERA in 30 games while pitching 181 innings and having 152 strikeouts and 47 walks. With the Astros that year, they made the playoffs as the NL Central champions and faced off against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS. Trying to avoid elimination, Reynolds pitched in Game 3 against John Smoltz in Houston. The Braves took the lead in the first inning on a two-out home run by Chipper Jones while a Jeff Blauser RBI single ultimately proved the winning run as Reynolds pitched six innings and allowed two runs on five hits as the Braves won 4–1. His most productive season came in 1998, when he posted career numbers with a 19–8 record and a 3.51 earned run average in innings of work. The Astros once again prevailed in the NL Central that year, and they faced off against the San Diego Padres in the NLDS. In Game 2, he went seven innings while allowing two runs on four hits although he would receive a no-decision in the 5-4 walk-off win (the only one in the series for the Astros). He followed with a 16–14 mark and a 3.85 ERA in 1999, while leading the league with 35 starts for the 2nd straight year. For the third straight year the Astros made it to the playoffs, and he would be the starting pitcher in Game 1. Facing the Braves and their ace Greg Maddux, Reynolds pitched six innings and allowed one run on seven hits as he prevailed over the Braves 6-1 for his only postseason win. In Game 4, he would last just five innings while allowing nine hits and four runs in 7–5 loss. In addition, he collected 15 or more wins and logged 200 or more innings in 1996 and from 1998 to 1999. As a result, Reynolds reached his 100th win and hurled more than 200 innings quicker than did Nolan Ryan in an Astros uniform. He finished in the top six of strikeouts for a National League pitcher in 1995, 1996, 1998, and 1999 while