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Reds-Astros Preview

Jul 22, 2010 - 10:05 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Cincinnati (53-43) at Houston (39-56), 8:05 p.m. EDT

Travis Wood pitched well enough to win in three of his first four major league outings, one of which was a virtually flawless performance in his latest road start.

Perhaps a visit to Houston will help him finally get that elusive first victory.

The left-hander tries again Friday night when the Cincinnati Reds face the Astros, who have dropped 14 of 16 to Dusty Baker's club.

Wood (0-1, 2.03 ERA) lost the battle for the fifth starter's job in spring training to Mike Leake. In his first four starts, however, he has appeared to have as bright of a future as Leake, an NL Rookie of the Year candidate.

Wood flirted with a perfect game July 10 at Philadelphia, ultimately allowing one hit in nine innings, and was solid again in his first start after the All-Star break Sunday against Colorado.

Cincinnati did not provide him with any support for the second straight outing, however. A solo homer was all the damage Wood allowed in six innings, but that was enough to cost him in a 1-0 loss.

"It's baseball, it's going to happen," Wood told the Reds' official website. "We're a great hitting team. We're going to have our slumps where we're going to have to scratch and claw to get a run."

Cincinnati (53-44) fell 2-0 in its most recent game against Houston on May 30, but the Reds have had few rough days at the plate in the series. They won the other five games against the Astros by a 43-16 margin.

Cincinnati has outscored Houston 102-49 in going 14-2 in the last 16 meetings. No player has had a bigger impact in that stretch than Jay Bruce, who's hitting .346 with seven homers and 16 RBIs.

Bruce has gotten a hit and walked twice in three appearances against Bud Norris (2-7, 6.09), who would love to be as effective as Livan Hernandez was against the Reds on Thursday. Hernandez allowed seven singles and went the distance in Washington's 7-1 win.

Norris, who gave up five runs over five innings of a 6-2 loss to Cincinnati on April 27, is 0-4 with a 7.36 ERA at home. He was hit hard in his first start of the second half, surrendering seven runs - four earned - over 4 2-3 innings of a 12-6 defeat at Pittsburgh on Saturday.

"Frustrating," Norris said. "I made good pitches, and they hit them. I've got to tip my hat, but I'm more frustrated in myself."

While the Reds come to Houston frustrated after settling for a four-game split with the Nationals, the Astros got a boost of confidence from taking two of three at Chicago. Jason Michaels' two-run double in the 12th inning was the key hit in a wild 4-3 victory Wednesday.

"That's just a good team win," said reliever Brandon Lyon, who earned the victory. "Wins like this build a lot of bonds in the clubhouse, a lot of camaraderie, so everybody battled and pitched in, and it's obviously a huge win for us going home. Hopefully this will turn things around for us."

Houston is 21-12 against NL Central opponents other than Cincinnati.