REDS at ASTROS (-105) – 8:05 pm ET #910

Not an official play, but I would rate the Astros as a light lean tonight.

The Astros have won eight of their last 12 games and they welcome Cincinnati to town for the first of a 3-game set on Friday night. Houston is 4-3 on their current 10-game homestand. Wandy Rodriguez gets the start for the Astros. He has given up just six runs in his last six starts at home this season with three of those runs coming in one game. Rodriguez shutout the Reds over seven innings while giving up only one hit back on July 25th. Brandon Phillips (7-32), Jay Bruce (1-17), Ryan Hanigan (3-12), Orlando Cabrera (1-9), Drew Stubbs (0-9), Jim Edmonds (1-8), Corky Miller (0-4), and Chris Heisey (0-3) all struggle with Rodriguez. The Reds have lost three of their last five games and they are sporting a losing record for the month of September.

Johnny Cueto gets the start for the Reds. He's 12-5 with a 3.31 ERA in 28 starts this season. Cueto has given up 10 runs in his last three road starts in Colorado, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh. The righty picked up the first win of his career against the Astros back in July of this season. Hunter Pence (7-23), Michael Bourn (5-18), Humberto Quintero (2-6), and Chris Johnson (2-3) all hit Cueto well. Houston is 40-26 against the rest of the N.L. Central while hitting .269 in those games. The once reliable Reds bullpen has seen their ERA rise on the road. They are 12-13 with a 4.17 ERA and 11 blown saves away from Cincinnati. Houston is in much better current form so we expect them to get a solid home win tonight.