The Houston Astros needed this one badly. Mike Burrows made sure they got it.
Burrows spun seven scoreless innings Friday night at Great American Ball Park, the Astros hit four home runs, and Houston cruised to a 10-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, snapping a six-game losing streak and winning a game in Cincinnati for the first time since 2012. The Astros improved to 16-23. The Reds have now lost eight in a row.
“Man, it’s been better than what the box score shows,” manager Joe Espada said of Burrows before the game. Friday’s box score backed that up.
Burrows scattered three hits, walked one, and struck out six on 98 pitches. His seven innings match a career high in a major-league start. The Reds put 18 balls in play against him, six with exit velocities above 95 mph, but only one fell for a hit. He retired his final 11 batters in order. His ERA dropped nearly a full run, to 5.04.
His only real trouble came in the fourth, when he loaded the bases with one out after a walk and two soft singles. He induced a shallow flyout and struck out Tyler Stephenson to escape. After that, the Reds didn’t have much of a chance.
Zach Dezenzo got Burrows started right, staking him to a two-run lead with a home run off Nick Lodolo in the second inning, his first of the season. Dezenzo, recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land this week, was back in his home state; he attended high school in Alliance, Ohio, and was drafted out of Ohio State. Brice Matthews had set the table with a two-out triple off the right-center field wall.
Yordan Alvarez added a two-run blast in the sixth, his 13th of the season, after Jose Altuve was hit by a pitch. The ball left Alvarez’s bat at 115.9 mph and traveled 407 feet. Alvarez had gone 3-for-23 without an extra-base hit in his first six games of May after winning AL Player of the Month honors for April. Friday felt like a reset.
The Astros piled on in the ninth. Reds right-hander Tony Santillan allowed four straight hits, including a three-run homer by Zach Cole, who had entered the game defensively in the eighth, and a solo shot by Christian Vázquez, before Cincinnati turned to a position player to finish the inning. AJ Blubaugh and Logan VanWey each threw a scoreless inning after Burrows’ exit to complete the shutout, the third of the season for a staff with the majors’ highest ERA.
On the injury front, Jeremy Peña will “hopefully” run bases Saturday or Sunday, which would be his final hurdle before starting a minor-league rehab assignment. Hunter Brown threw his first bullpen session since going on the injured list and Espada said it went well. Lance McCullers Jr. played catch Friday but remained sore and his status for his next start is uncertain.
The Astros send Spencer Arrighetti to the mound Saturday.
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