All this led to a difficult season, despite that quick start, one that included two eight-game losing streaks (the longest such streaks for the franchise since 1988) and a seven-game losing streak, losing months in June, August and September, and an 83-78 record, the worst for the Cardinals since the 1999 team finished 75-86. However, that record was still good enough to finish first in a weak National League Central. On the season's final day, the Cardinals made the playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven seasons, edging the second-place Houston Astros by a game and a half. Once the playoffs began, the lightly regarded Cardinals surprised baseball fans everywhere by beating the San Diego Padres in the four-game Division Series, beating the New York Mets in the seven-game NLCS, and beating the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series four games to one, winning the tenth, and probably most unlikely, World Series championship in franchise history. Their .516 winning percentage is the lowest ever for a World Series champion. This season ironically contrasted with 2004 as that team was considered the overwhelming favorites but were swept in the World Series, resulting in a bittersweet three-year period for the Cardinals.