On June 11, 2003, Roy Oswalt, the ace of the Houston Astros’ pitching staff, had to leave a game against the Yankees with a groin pull after the first inning. The Yankee Stadium crowd sat back and waited for the runs to pile up, figuring that the powerful Yankees lineup — Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui — had the whole game to wear out the Astros’ bullpen.

Instead, what seemed like a potential blowout became the first no-hitter against the Yankees in the Bronx since 1952, and the first no-hitter in history to feature six pitchers — not that any of the Houston pitchers seemed initially aware of what was going on.

With the Astros now in New York for a three-game series that began Monday — something that will become a more regular occurrence now that Houston has shifted to the American League — it seems an appropriate time to reflect on that 2003 game and how unusual it was.

The Astros, who are awful now, were a good team then, just two years from an appearance in the World Series. They had, among other things, one of the better bullpens in baseball, which helps explain what happened that night.