Cincinnati @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 23, 2010 ) Cincinnati 6, Houston 4
Roy Oswalt has turned into a hot commodity around the majors. With Cliff Lee already off the market, Oswalt has become the No. 1 target for teams in search of starting pitching.
As the trade deadline looms a week away, it appears more likely by the day that the Astros' ace will be pitching in a different uniform come July 31.
So when Oswalt takes the hill on Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds at Minute Maid Park, it could be the final start of his career in front of the home faithful as a member of the Astros.
While division rival St. Louis is said to be heavily interested in trading for the right-hander, Oswalt will continue to focus on winning for Houston, the place where he has called home his entire 10-year career.
It’s no wonder that Oswalt’s name has been circulating as the 32-year-old is enjoying his best campaign in a few seasons. Playing for a downtrodden team, he is just 6-11 but owns a 3.12 ERA. His 143 wins are one short of tying Joe Niekro for the franchise record.
Oswalt will be making the 34th start of his career against the Reds, the team he has faced the most over the years. He has enjoyed unbelievable success against them, going 23-2 with a 2.62 ERA.
However, he’ll be in search of some run support with the Astros scoring just four combined runs over his previous five starts. He left Sunday’s start against Pittsburgh in the fourth inning after being hit in the foot with a grounder.
Cincinnati continued its dominance of Houston this season, securing a 6-4 victory in the series opener to win for the sixth time in seven tries against its division counterparts.
Joey Votto hit his 24th home run and Jay Bruce broke a tie with an eighth-inning double.
The Reds, who will try to move to 2-0 on their six-game road trip, turn to Johnny Cueto on Saturday.
Cueto (9-2, 3.39 ERA) has been sharp of late, going 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA over his past six starts, including allowing two runs in six innings for a win over Washington on Monday.
Cueto has not fared well when facing Houston, going 0-4 with a 5.22 ERA in seven appearances.
He’ll have to navigate around the hot-hitting Hunter Pence, who homered in Friday’s loss and leads the club with 14 on the campaign.