J.A. Happ’s dominant pitching helps Houston Astros rout Cincinnati Reds 10-4 – MLB Update
Houston Astros starting pitcher J.A. Happ was leading from the front right through the game as he went 1-for-3 with the bat and pitched six solid innings in the Astros 10-4 victory against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on
May 3.
Happ said of his game, “It's just trying to make contact, trying to be aggressive, I guess. I don't know. The ball's falling for me. To be honest, I felt that was the best stuff I've had all year.”
The Reds’ short-stop Edgar Renteria went 1-for-4 and hit an RBI single in the first inning to take the lead initially by 1-0. The Astros were unable to score in the first inning but Chris Johnson hit a solo homer in the second inning to tie the score one
all. Both teams were scoreless in the third inning.
The Astros were on top with a huge lead in the fourth inning when Bill Hall, Brett Wallace and Johnson completed their RBI doubles all around the ground and extended the Astros’ lead to 7-1. The fifth inning remained level by both the teams as two scores
were added from each side and the scorecard moved to 9-3. The Reds reduced the lead to 9-4 in the seventh inning when Drew Stubbs took a two-out RBI single.
The Astros finally led off with 10-4 in the ninth inning as Michael Bourn scored a single run towards the centre-field position. The Reds’ Manager Dusty Baker encouraged his team after the loss. He said, “He was talking to me, telling me to keep my head
up. Where I come from, it's OK to get down as long as you don't stay down. That's the secret. Everybody gets down. The key is not staying down.”
Happ had a notable day as he permitted just four runs on eight hits including four earned runs and five strike-outs. He improved his pitching tactics as he ended his individual losing streak of three games. Wallace also praised the pitching performance of
Happ and said, “It was awesome to see that. Happ did a good job keeping us in there early and gave us a chance to get that lead.”
On the other side, Mike Leake had a shaky game as he allowed seven runs on seven hits in just three innings pitched. He only struck-out one batter.
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