Reds 2 Astros 1
Rookie Andrew Abbott tossed six more innings of shutout baseball and the Reds broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the 7th inning, one by homer and the other on daring baserunning, as the Reds beat the Astros 2-1 Friday night at Minute Maid Park.
Tyler Stephenson lined a laser beam solo homer and Kevin Newman delivered what turned out to be the deciding run with a two-out RBI double that scored Will Benson on a mad dash from 1st base.
The Astros scored a 9th inning run off Alexis Diaz, but the Reds closer stranded the tying run on 2nd base for his 18th save of the season and 23rd consecutive dating back to last season.
The Reds winning streak extends to six games and they move to the .500 mark at 35-35.
The Brewers beat the Pirates, moving Milwaukee into 1st place in the NL Central. The Reds are now tied with Pittsburgh, one half game back.
They Reds have won 9 of their last 11 and are 28-20 since April 24.
Andrew Abbott: 6.0 IN, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 83 pitches/60 strikes. He has set a franchise record with 17.2 scoreless innings pitched to begin his career.
Per ESPN, he's the 1st pitcher since the mound was set to its current distance in 1893 with 5 scoreless innings in each of his first 3 starts.
Hits: Reds 5, Astros 6
Birthday Boy: Will Benson celebrated his 25th birthday with a single, walk and run scored. He was a late add to the lineup when Stuart Fairchild was scratched with a stiff neck.
Bullpen: Buck Farmer 1.0 IN, 0 R......Lucas Sims 1.0 IN, 0 R......Alexis Diaz 1.0 IN, 1 R.....save 18.
Road warriors: The Reds have won 11 of their last 13 on the road and are 18-17 away from GABP. They started the year 1-9 on the road.
Day off: Elly De La Cruz got his first day off
How the Reds scored:
7th: Stephenson solo HR, 1-0 Reds
7th: Newman RBI 2B scored Benson, 2-0 Reds