Dateline: Cincinnati
It was take two in Chase Burns effort to chase the blues from an eight game losing streak. For his second straight outing he held opponent off the scoreboard to defeat the Houston Astros, 3-1.
Burns pitched six innings to give the Reds a chance to end its eight game losing streak. Burns allowed a run on four hits and three walks. He struck out two.
Burns had thrown 12 straight scoreless innings until Brenden Shewmake hit his third home run of the season with two outs in the fifth inning.
The flip side was the Reds didn't support him with any runs over the last 11 of those. His last outing went for naught although he turned in seven scoreless innings against the Pittsburgh Pirate which would have top the streak at two games.
"He was really good and I was wanting to send him back out," Terry Francona said. "I talked to Chase and he was feeling it. I think we'd have been reaching a little bit."
Reds' hitters were having trouble solving Astros' starter Spencer Arrighetti. He throttled the Reds on one hit and two walks.
The Reds used gifts from the Astros outfield to take a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
"It's a good feeling. It's a really good feeling," Francona said. "I'm happy for the guys. It's been a tough week. They're working. They're competing. It's not always been as good as we want. They're not quitting, so we're not going to quit on them."
Spencer Steer singled with one out. He stole second while Will Benson walked. Jose Trevino hit a fly ball to right that Cam Smith flat out dropped to load the bases. Matt McLain singled to score Steer and Benson. The runners advanced on left fielder Zach Cole's throwing error to the plate. TJ Friedl walked. JJ Bleday flied out to shallow right. Elly De La Cruz singled in a run but McLain was thrown out at home by Cole.
Brock Burke and Graham Ashcraft got back in the saddle after falling off their horse the last time out with the game on the line.
Ashcraft gave up a two-run, game-tying home run to Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs on Wednesday night. Burke walked in the losing run in the 10th inning, pitching to Michael Busch.
This time Burke pitched a quick inning against Houston in relief of Burns and Ashcraft followed with a scoreless inning to hand the ball over to Pierce Johnson, who earned his first save of the season in place of his best friend on the team, Emilio Pagan, who strained his hamstring in Tuesday night's 10-inning loss in Chicago.
"It was an adrenaline rush. I can tell you that," Johnson said. "Our bullpen as whole we trust the ball going to anybody. Burns going out there and giving us six innings was fantastic."
The losing streak was bad enough but there have been injuries, including the serious one to Pagan. There have been family losses. Both Johnson and Ashcraft lost grandfathers in the same week.
"The year is a roller coaster," Johnson said of the injuries and losses. "You'll have highs and you're going to have lows. We started the year off hot and had road trips where we won a lot of games. We came home and we split, then you go on the road and have a rough one. That's going to happen. It's a long season. This group of guys is elite. It's one of the best groups, I've ever been a part of."
"It was a huge loss, losing him (Pagan). Not for on the field but off the field too. It is a leadership role that is really, really tough to fill. We'll hold that position down until he gets back," Johnson said.
The personal losses made it even tougher.
"That is tough. It is life, sadly. We talked a little bit about it in the last couple days," Johnson said. "It is hard to lose family members, you're really close to. We are here for each other."
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