Cincinnati @ Houston preview
Minute Maid Park
Last Meeting ( May 30, 2010 ) Houston 2, Cincinnati 0
Travis Wood was just biding his time in Triple-A, waiting to get the call to join the Cincinnati Reds. The nod eventually came on July 1st and the 23-year-old was poised to show that he belonged in a big-league rotation.
So far through four starts, Wood has more than looked like he’s capable of staying. But as good as he’s been, the left-hander has yet to pick up an elusive first career victory.
Wood will get another shot at getting off the snide as he takes the hill on Friday when the Reds open a three-game series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Wood (0-1, 2.03 ERA), who lost out in a battle to make the club in spring training, has been nearly unhittable over his last two starts despite coming up empty in the win column.
On July 10, Wood nearly tossed a perfect game against Philadelphia before settling for a one-hit shutout. He followed that up by allowing a run on three hits in six frames to Colorado on Sunday.
Cincinnati (53-44), which currently sits 1 ½ games behind St. Louis for first place in the National League Central, will try to get back on track after a brief two-game skid. It figures to be a relatively easy task against an Astros club that the Reds have taken 14 of 16 from, outscoring them 102-49 in that span.
The Reds’ offense was shut down by Livan Hernandez in a loss to Washington on Thursday, but will try to regroup against Houston starter Bud Norris.
Norris (2-7, 6.09 ERA) hasn’t been overly effective on the season, particularly at home, where he hasn’t won in six starts and owns a 7.36 ERA.
Working in his favor is the fact that Cincinnati hitters aren’t overly familiar with him as Reds starters have tallied just 18 at-bats against the 25-year-old right-hander.
Houston (39-56) hasn’t been able to sustain much success in July as they have traded wins and losses over the past nine games following a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh.
If there is a spot to blame for the Astros’ struggles, one need not look any further than the hitting, or lack thereof. The club ranks second worst in the majors in batting average, RBIs and hits. Sluggers Carlos Lee (.236 average) and Lance Berkman (.242) have particularly struggled in the heart of the order.