Astros win their third straight

The Houston Astros are riding their first winning streak of the season after beating the Reds in the series opener 10-4. The Astros used a big fourth inning, where they scored six runs and sent 10 batters to the plate. Even J.A. Happ was getting in the mix and helping his own cause, by hitting an RBI single. After tonight’s game Happ is now hitting .500 with three RBI on the season. He already has more hits this season than he has in his four year career.

It seemed like every Astros bat was dialed in tonight. Chris Johnson seems to be breaking out of his slump as he had a triple and a solo home run. This was his second home run in four games, after only hitting one in the first 24 games. Also Brett Wallace was finally moved up in the lineup to the cleanup spot and didn’t disappoint, going 2 for 5 with two runs scored and a solo home run in the fifth.

The Astros got at least one RBI from everyone in the lineup except Bourn and Pence but both contributed with a hit and run scored. Clint Barmes even got his first hit as an Astro, finishing the game 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. The Astros were able to rack up 7 runs on starter Mike Leake over 3.2 innings of work before he was pulled.

Even though Happ did get his second win of the season it still wasn’t exactly the performance Astros’ fans are hoping for. He did work into the 7th inning but gave up four runs on eight hits while striking out five. He was followed by Enerio Del Rosario, Fernando Abad, Mark Melancon, and Nelson Figueroa who only surrendered one hit over their combined 2.2 innings of work. All in all when your team can beat the defending division champs, it is a good night and a good win.

The Astros are back it tomorrow for an afternoon start as Aneury Rodriguez will get his first start as a Houston Astro as they take on Travis Wood and the Cincinnati Reds.