It’s over. It is finally over. The losing streak came to an end on Saturday evening at Great American Ball Park as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros 3-1 to pick up their first win since *gulp* April 30th against the Colorado Rockies.
FinalRHEHouston Astros (16-24)142Cincinnati Reds (21-19)350W: Burns (4-1) L:Arrighetti (4-1) SV: Johnson (1)Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
Chase Burns and Spencer Arrighetti were both locked in through the first four innings of the game. But that changed in the top of the 5th inning when Braden Shewmake homered with two outs to put the Houston Astros up 1-0. Burns would walk the next hitter on four pitches, but he got a groundout to end any further threat.
The Reds would have the back of their young starter in the bottom of the inning with a little help from the Astros defense. Spencer Steer picked up a 1-out single and Will Benson followed up with a walk. Jose Trevino then hit a fly ball down the right field line that Cam Smith flat out dropped, allowing everyone to move up a bag safely and load the bases. Two pitches later Matt McLain singled and drove in two runs to put Cincinnati ahead. Three batters later Elly De La Cruz was at the plate with the bases loaded and he singled into left field to bring in another run, but McLain was thrown out at the plate trying to score a second run on the play and ended the inning.
Chase Burns came out for the 6th inning with a lead and then saw Yordan Alvarez hit a later into the right field corner for a leadoff double. The right-hander locked in, though, and retired the next three hitters to keep him there and get out of the inning. Cincinnati would have their own man in scoring position in the bottom of the inning after Sal Stewart singled to lead off the inning and then moved up to second on a balk and then stole third base with one out. The Reds couldn’t bring him home, though, and their lead remained at two.
When the 7th inning rolled around the home team went to the bullpen and brought in Brock Burke. He threw just eight pitches to get three outs. The next inning it was Graham Ashcraft taking over and while he needed a few more pitches he also retired the side in order. Up by two runs in the 9th the Reds turned things over to Pierce Johnson. He got some help from Dane Myers in center when he tracked down a line drive on the warning track for the second out of the inning. Johnson then got a grounder to third to end the game, end the losing streak, and have the nearly 36,000 fans who showed up to the game leave happy.
Key Moment of the Game
Matt McLain’s 2-run single in the 5th inning that gave Cincinnati the lead.
Notes Worth Noting
Chase Burns walked more batters than he struck out in this game (three walks, two strikeouts), but he was in control during the outing and lowered his ERA on the season to 2.11 through 47.0 innings.
Elly De La Cruz was the only Reds player to have more than one hit. He’s had back-to-back 2-hit games against Houston.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Houston Astros vs Cincinnati Reds
Sunday May 10th, 1:40pm ET
Kai-Wei Teng (1-2, 2.35 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (1-2, 5.13 ERA)
