The road trip for the Houston Astros (48-25) started off on a sour note on Monday night with only four hits on the evening resulting in a 3-2 loss to open up their series against the Cincinnati Reds (32-38).
How It Happened:
After the first four innings, it looked like it would be a pitcher’s duel and the first one to blink would see his day come to an end. The first to blink was Wade Miley who started to lose the stuff he had in the bottom of the fifth.
The Reds got on the board when Nick Senzel hit a one-out two-run single to center field. After Miley walked Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez made it a 3-0 ballgame with an RBI single towards right field.
The Astros finally responded in the top of the seventh when Jake Marisnick grounded into a force out on Tyler White that scored Robinson Chirinos. After Alex Bregman was walked, Michael Brantley followed that up with an RBI double to right field to make it a one-run deficit. However, with the go-ahead run at second, rookie Yordan Alvarez flew out to Yasiel Puig to end the rally. The Astros had an opportunity to tie things up in the ninth after a leadoff walk, but a pair of fly balls and Alvarez striking out resulted in them dropping the first of a three-game set.
Big Number: 10
The Astros got quite a few free passes on Monday night with nine batters getting walked. Having ducks on the pond typically helps an offense find that much-needed spark, but that wasn’t the case with the Astros stranding 10 on the way to a disappointing loss to open up a seven-game road trip.
Player of the Game: Luis Castillo
The ace of the Reds pitching staff showed exactly why he is just that on Monday night. The 26-year-old improved his record to 7-1 with six solid innings of work, allowing two runs off of two hits and struck out seven.
Next Up: Tuesday vs Cincinnati Reds; First Pitch at 6:10 pm
-Clint Domingue