The Houston Astros (18-18) return home Friday night to open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds (19-20), with first pitch set for 8:10 p.m. EDT at Daikin Park.

Riding the arm of one of baseball’s hottest starters, Houston hands the ball to Hunter Brown (5-1, 1.67 ERA), who has been dominant through his first seven starts. Brown enters the game with a sparkling 0.88 WHIP and 49 strikeouts, looking to keep the Astros trending in the right direction.

Cincinnati counters with right-hander Nicholas Martinez (1-3, 4.19 ERA), who has been steady but not overpowering, and will face an Astros lineup that’s shown signs of life, hitting .269 over its last 10 games.

At 11-7 at home, Houston has played solid baseball, but has struggled in close contests, going just 3-5 in one-run games. The Reds arrive having dropped seven of their last 10 and are hitting just .205 in that stretch. Their .242 team batting average ranks ninth in the National League, but they’ve been outscored by 14 runs over the past 10 games.

Jeremy Peña continues to pace the Astros’ offense with 11 extra-base hits, while catcher Yainer Diaz has been red-hot, batting .342 with two homers and eight RBIs over the last 10 games. For Cincinnati, Gavin Lux and Jose Trevino have done the heavy lifting lately, but the lineup as a whole has scuffled.

With the BetMGM line favoring the Astros at -178 and an over/under of 7.5, this one projects as a pitcher’s duel—especially if Brown continues to deal.

Friday marks the first meeting between these two teams this season.

^{*ChatGPT assisted.}

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