The Cincinnati Reds offense was never able to get going on Sunday afternoon in Houston as Ronel Blanco put together a masterful performance. The Astros offense did plenty as they scored six runs and held on for a 6-0 win to pick up the series win.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (20-22) | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Houston Astros (20-19) | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Blanco (3-3) L: Petty (0-2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Cincinnati Reds went down in order on strikeouts in the top of the 1st inning and it was a sign of things to come for the offense on Sunday again Ronel Blanco. Chase Petty got himself into trouble in the bottom of the 2nd inning when he issued back-to-back 1-out walks, but he got himself of the that jam with back-to-back strikeouts.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning he was unable to get himself out of trouble. Isaac Paredes doubled with one out and Christian Walker followed up with an infield single on a liner to Santiago Espinal that he couldn’t come up with. Two pitches later and Yainer Diaz took a change up from Petty that was up in the zone and hit is 392 feet into the seats for a 3-run home run.
Petty returned to the mound in the 4th inning and gave up a single then back-to-back walks before the Reds went to the bullpen to bring in Brent Suter. He gave up a run on a sacrifice fly, but avoided any further damage in the inning. Spencer Steer doubled in the 5th to break up the no-hit bid by Blanco, but he was stranded there.
Scott Barlow tossed a perfect bottom of the 5th inning. He returned to the mound in the 6th and didn’t retire a batter before exiting with the bases loaded and giving way to Taylor Rogers. He gave up a 2-run single to Christian Walker that extended the lead to 6-0 for Houston.
Jose Trevino doubled with one out in the top of the 8th inning, giving Cincinnati their best opportunity to score a run on Sunday afternoon to that point. It wasn’t meant to be, though, as Will Benson grounded out and Santiago Espinal struck out to end the inning.
After 8.0 innings of 11 strikeout baseball from Ronel Blanco the Astros turned the game over to Shawn Bubin, who was making his 2025 season debut. He would walk Matt McLain with one out after an 8-pitch battle, but he came back to strike out Elly De La Cruz and get Austin Hays to fly out to end the game and earn Houston a 6-0 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Yaniel Diaz hitting a 3-run home run in the 3rd inning.
Notes Worth Noting
The Reds have not won a series in which they lost the first game in 34 consecutive series. They had a chance to end that streak on Sunday but couldn’t come through.
Cincinnati scored 10 runs in the 1st inning of the game on Saturday. They were shut out in the first and third games.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Chicago White Sox vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday, May 13th, 6:40pm ET
Jonathan Cannon (2-4, 4.09 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (2-0, 2.25 ERA)
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