Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Astros (43-96)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	9	1
Reds (84-56)	0	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	-	5	8	1

Boxscore

After losing in the 9th to the Houston Astros the game before, Bronson Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds did not let that happen again last night.

Well, I guess it wasn’t that easy. Arroyo did allow a run in the first inning to start the game, but he recovered and allowed no more runs after that. He turned in an excellent start for his 12th win, going 7 innings, giving up just the 1 run on 7 hits and 2 walks, with 5 strikeouts. Sean Marshall and Jonathan Broxton finished the game throwing a shutout inning apiece.

Despite the early one-run deficit, the offense wasn’t intimidated. Jay Bruce tied it with his 33rd home run in the second. And then Brandon Phillips tied it in the next inning with a solo shot of his own, a line drive to right that just cleared the wall.

It was a 1-run game until the 6th, when the Reds broke the game open by sending every batter to the plate and scoring 3 runs. Joey Votto led the inning off with a double. A line out and a couple walks later, the bases were loaded for Ryan Hanigan, who singled to right field to drive in Votto.

The next batter was the non-hitter Wilson Valdez. Because it was the Astros, his ground ball back to the pitcher, which should have been an inning-ending double-play, ended up driving in two instead. The pitcher, Fernando Rodriquez, seemed to slip while fielding the ball. At that point, he had no play at any base, but decided to throw to home anyway. It was a wild throw, and ended up in the Reds dugout.

That was the end of the scoring for both teams. The win combined with a St. Louis Cardinals loss dropped the Reds’ magic number to 14.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Astros (43-95)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	9	0
Reds (83-56)	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	10	2

Boxscore

Aroldis Chapman blew his first save in a long time last night, letting the Houston Astros defeat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3.

Of course, if this is like the last time Chapman realized he was mortal, he’ll quickly forget it and move on to another string of 20 or more saves in a row. Which should hopefully take the team straight through the World Series. Yes, I can get behind the idea of no more blown saves until next year.

The blown save was unfortunate in many ways. The Reds lost to a crappy team and were unable to add a game to their lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost in extras. Also, it made Homer Bailey unable to get his career-high 11th win. After struggling in the first inning, he settled down and had himself a very solid outing, allowing 2 runs–all in the first–on 5 hits and 1 walk while striking out 9.

Of course, if the Reds’ offense hadn’t disappeared against the Astros, Chapman never would’ve been in the position to be holding a 1 run lead. After Bailey spotted the Astros 2 runs in the top of the first, the Reds came right back. Brandon Phillips and Chris Heisey reached on singles, and then Joey Votto walked. Next, Ryan Ludwick drove in Phillips and Heisey with a single to left field.

Unfortunately, the scoring stopped there, thanks to a Jay Bruce line out and a Todd Frazier double play. Oh, what could have been.

The Reds took the lead in the 5th when Bruce drove in Heisey. But they were never able to increase the lead from 1 run.

The Reds try again this evening when they send Bronson Arroyo against Bud Norris at 7:10pm EDT. And they better win this time because I’ll be in attendance.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (81-52)	0	0	2	0	4	0	1	2	0	9	13	1
Astros (40-92)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	3	9	1

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds continued their winning ways in the first game against the Houston Astros last night, beating the bottom-dwelling team 9-3.

Mike Leake started for the Reds and turned in a quality start, going 6 innings and allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. His good outing netted him his 7th win on the season, giving him a slight chance at joining the rest of the members of the starting rotation with at least 10 wins.

The offense took a few innings to get going against the Astros, but once they started, they didn’t stop. In the 3rd, Zack Cozart broke the scoreless tie with his 15th home run, a 2-run shot that drove in Dioner Navarro. In the 5th, Jay Bruce broke the game open with his 28th home run on the season, driving in Chris Heisey and Ryan Ludwick to make the game 6-2.

The scoring continued in the 7th inning when Brandon Phillips singled in Chris Heisey. And in the 8th, Miguel Cairo had a rare hit to drive in Scott Rolen and advance Navarro to 2nd. A couple batters later, Heisey hit a grounder that scored Navarro.

It was a game that I expected the Reds to win, even with a pitcher in Leake who has struggled at times. Really, I almost expect the Reds to sweep this series. The Astros are that bad of a team. In fact, with this win in Houston, Cincinnati now has more wins at Minute Maid Park since the All Star Break than Houston does: 4-3. That’s some ineptitude that I hope the Reds can take advantage of.

The second game of the series tonight will feature Homer Bailey going against Lucas Harrell. Harrell, who has a record of 10-9, possesses 25% of the Astros’ wins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm EDT.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	3	5	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	12	14	1
Astros	2	0	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	9	14	2

Boxscore

The Reds set themselves up for a series sweep last night by winning the second game against the Astros, 12-9.

Mat Latos started for the Reds against notorious Reds killer, Wandy Rodriguez. However, Latos was in true April form and turned out to be closer to a Reds killer than his opponent. In 3.1 innings of work, he allowed 7 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits and a walk. Then came the parade of most of the bullpen:

• J.J. Hoover .2 innings/2 runs (earned)/3 hits
• Sam LeCure 2.0 innings/0 runs/0 hits
• Jose Arrendondo 1 inning/0 runs/1 hit
• Sean Marshall 1 inning/0 runs/0 hits
• Aroldis Chapman 1 inning/0 runs/0 hits

What are we to do with young Latos? He’s probably put too much pressure on himself. After all, here he is on a better team than he’s used to, where they paid a lot to bring him on board, and lots of other people around him are 50 shades of awesome. I wouldn’t like to see him given the Sean Marshall treatment, but they are going to have to figure something out. You can’t be running five relievers out there every five days.

For a change, though, the offense did the pitchers a solid and got back anything that got given away. Though they only lost the lead once, it felt to me, as a fan, like they were behind from the third inning on. It was oddly grim, especially considering how the line came out.

With so much offense, it’s hard to list everyone’s contribution. I guess games like this just lend themselves to bullet lists:

• RBIs were contributed by Drew Stubbs (4), Joey Votto (2), Brandon Phillips (3), Chris Heisey, Ryan Ludwick, and Todd Frazier.
• Votto, Frazier, Stubbs, and Ludwick each had hit home runs
• Joey Votto went 4-for-4 with a walk. His AVG after this game is .345. He was also caught stealing once and picked off once. Someone’s working on his running game.

The win brings the Reds record to 30-22 and gives them a 3.5 game lead in the NLC. They’re finished the series as I write this. Bronson Arroyo took on Jordan Lyles.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (29-22)	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	6	0
Astros (22-30)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	5	0

Boxscore

After losing a series to the Pittsburgh Pirates, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Cincinnati Reds as they opened a series with the Houston Astros yesterday. Especially with Mike Leake starting, who hasn’t been what you would call “good” this year.

Perhaps the offense was concerned, too, as they opened the top of the first inning with several strung together hits to give the Reds a 2-0 lead before Leake ever took the mound. Votto started things off with 2 outs in the first with a single. Brandon Phillips followed with a double that drove Votto home. And then Jay Bruce drove in Phillips. It’s awesome to see the heart of the lineup produce like that.

Then it was Leake’s turn to hold the lead, which he did over his 7 innings. He allowed just 1 run on 4 hits, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Leake has two good starts out of his last three now, which coincide perfectly with his two wins. Hopefully, we’ll see more of the outings like yesterday and not like the one before when he couldn’t make it out of the 4th.

After Leake, the bullpen held the lead. Logan Ondrusek pitched a scoreless 8th, and Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the 9th for his 4th save.

Thanks to the St. Louis Cardinals being no-hit by the New York Mets, the Reds now have a 2.5 game lead in first place. They’ll try to increase that even more today when Mat Latos starts against Wandy Rodriguez at 7:15pm EDT.