Will Benson had three hits and two RBIs, and Jonathan India slugged his ninth home run as the visiting Cincinnati Reds extended their winning streak to seven games with a 10-3 interleague victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday.
The Reds secured their fifth consecutive road series victory by combining a balanced offensive attack with a solid starting performance from right-hander Hunter Greene (2-4), who notched his second consecutive winning decision.
India kickstarted the offense by bashing a first-pitch slider from Astros right-hander Brandon Bielak (3-4) out to left-center field in the top of the first. That 403-foot blast plated Matt McLain and spotted the Reds a 2-0 lead after McLain reached on the first of two errors committed by Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena in the first.
Pena later mishandled a grounder from Spencer Steer, extending the inning for Bielak, who ultimately stranded the bases loaded.
Bielak retired the Reds in order in the second. He worked around a two-out single from Steer in the third before Benson lined a leadoff triple to left-center in the fourth inning and subsequently scored on a Curt Casali sacrifice bunt.
Benson struck the decisive blow an inning later after Tyler Stephenson worked a walk off Bielak that facilitated a pitching change. Astros reliever Phil Maton jumped ahead of Benson 0-2 before Benson dumped a curveball into shallow center that scored McLain and Steer and upped the lead to 5-1.
Benson finished 3-for-3 with a pair of walks. Elly De La Cruz, McLain, Steer and Stephenson also recorded two-hit games for the Reds.
Greene labored a bit over his six innings of work, allowing five hits while issuing four walks against three strikeouts. However, he surrendered only two runs despite the traffic in part by limiting the Astros to an 0-for-6 mark with runners in scoring position during his outing.
Yainer Diaz smacked his fifth homer of the season to right field with one out in the sixth but, excluding Jose Altuve, the Astros were mostly punchless. Altuve finished 4-for-4 with a home run, his third. It marked his 35th career four-hit game, his first since Aug. 3, 2022, and the most in franchise history.
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