Fernando Abad joins Astros bullpen; Reds hitters rejoice

Fernando Abad did all he could to ruin a nice all-around effort by the Astros tonight, but Houston held on for a 6-4 win over the Reds. Jose Altuve and J.D. Martinez sparked the offense early as the Astros jumped out to a 6-0 lead after four innings. Wandy Rodriguez had another excellent outing, allowing six hits and two runs in six innings of work. Rodriguez struck out six and walked two, throwing 102 pitches in the game.

Wilton Lopez needed only eight pitches to get three groundouts in the seventh and preserve the 6-2 lead. Fernando Rodriguez was summoned for the eighth and did a tightrope act to keep the Reds off the scoreboard. Drew Stubbs struck out to start the inning but reached base on what was ruled a wild pitch by F-Rod. Stubbs promptly stole second and advanced to third when Jason Castro‘s throw trickled into centerfield. Rodriguez got Joey Votto on a grounder to third and struck out Phillips and Ludwick to end the threat.

With a four run lead in the bottom of the ninth, Brad Mills rolled the dice and brought Fernando Abad to the mound. Abad was recalled from AAA Oklahoma City earlier in the day when Kyle Weiland was placed on the disabled list with shoulder bursitis. Scott Rolen greeted Abad with a deep drive to left-center that Jordan Schafer was able to haul in as he crashed into the wall. Schafer appeared to injure his rib cage on the play but stayed in the game. Abad then coughed up back-to-back homers to Jay Bruce and Devin Mesoraco as Astros fans everywhere threw their remote controls and kicked the dog.

Brett Myers came in with a two run lead and got the last two outs to earn his fourth save of the season. Wandy evened his record at 2-2 with the win and the Astros improved to 8-12 for the year. Carlos Lee left the game in the bottom of the first with a sprained left ankle. El Caballo is listed as day-to-day.