Cincinnati 5, Houston 3
When: 8:05 PM ET, Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Mike Muchlinski, 1B -
Fieldin Culbreth, 2B -
Lance Barksdale, 3B -
Gary Cederstrom
Attendance:
16077
By SportsDirect Inc.
Reds 5, Astros 3: Drew Stubbs hit a two-out, two-run double during a three-run ninth inning as visiting Cincinnati completed a three-game sweep with its season-high seventh consecutive victory.
Stubbs, who belted a game-winning two-run homer off former Red Francisco Cordero (0-2) in a three-run ninth on Tuesday, victimized Houston's new closer for the second straight night with a double off the wall in left field that plated two and gave the National League Central-leading Reds a 4-3 lead.
Jay Bruce followed with an RBI double off Fernando Abad as Cincinnati won for the 14th time in 16 games and maintained its 2 1/2-game division lead over Pittsburgh.
J.D. Martinez hit a game-tying RBI double in the eighth and scored the go-ahead run on Cincinnati's fourth error of the night as host Houston appeared on the verge of ending its eight-game skid. But Cordero, who blew three of his five save opportunities with Toronto before being traded on Friday, had his second meltdown in as many nights and the Astros lost for the 22nd time in 24 contests.
Sean Marshall (3-3) notched the win after retiring the only batter he faced and All-Star Aroldis Chapman worked around a leadoff double in the ninth for his 19th save in 23 chances.
Reds starter Homer Bailey continued his dominance of the Astros, scattering four hits over seven scoreless innings. Bailey lowered his ERA to 1.33 in six career outings against Houston.
All-Star Jose Altuve went 3-for-4 and scored a run while starter Bud Norris tossed seven strong innings for the Astros, who have allowed 50 runs over their last six contests.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Stubbs drove in Cincinnati's first run with an RBI double in the third inning. He went 7-for-15 with five runs and five RBIs in the three-game series. ... Wilson Valdez got a rare start at second base for Cincinnati as Brandon Phillips was given the night off before entering as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. Phillips had started every game since June 28. ... Houston recalled LHP Xavier Cedeno from Triple-A Oklahoma City to fill the roster spot created by the Wandy Rodriguez trade. Cedeno entered the game in the eighth inning and yielded a single before being pulled.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Cincinnati |
|
Houston |
|
Homer Bailey
|
Player |
Bud Norris
|
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
7.0 |
IP |
7.0 |
|
7 |
Strikeouts |
7 |
|
5 |
Hits |
5 |
|
0.00 |
ERA |
1.29 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Cincinnati
|
10 |
0 |
14 |
.286 |
16 |
10 |
5 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
| Houston
|
9 |
0 |
13 |
.273 |
19 |
8 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
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