Major League Baseball
Cincinnati 12, Houston 5
When: 6:40 PM ET, Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
Temperature: 84°
Umpires: Home - Shane Livensparger, 1B - Brian O'Nora, 2B - Brennan Miller, 3B - Chris Conroy
Attendance: 17865

Jonathan India sparked a nine-run first inning with a leadoff homer and Elly De La Cruz doubled, singled and drove in two in the opening inning as the Cincinnati Reds routed the visiting Houston Astros 12-5 on Wednesday night.

De La Cruz finished with three hits, two doubles, three runs scored and two RBIs as the Reds defeated the Astros for an eighth straight time dating to Houston's last win over Cincinnati in 2016.

Cincinnati won its third straight game while Houston, which entered the series with a five-game win streak, lost its second in a row.

The Reds sent 13 batters to the plate in their biggest first inning since scoring seven against Pittsburgh on Aug. 6, 2021, in a 10-0 win over the Pirates.

The Reds set their franchise record for most runs in an inning against the Astros when they scored 14 runs in the first inning of an 18-2 win on Aug. 3, 1989.

The victim of Cincinnati's uprising was Spencer Arrighetti (7-12), the right-hander who carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his last start in Philadelphia.

On Wednesday, Arrighetti retired just two batters and threw 38 pitches before being lifted for Tayler Scott. Arrighetti was charged with nine runs and six hits, walking three and striking out none.

Arrighetti's 14 1/3 scoreless inning streak came to an abrupt end when India crushed the right-hander's second pitch 436 feet to center for a leadoff home run, his 11th in a Cincinnati uniform. Only Pete Rose (18) has more in Reds history.

Ty France picked up where he left off on Monday, singling in TJ Friedl for a 3-0 lead, giving France five hits in as many at-bats.

With a massive cushion, Cincinnati starter Nick Martinez (7-6) cruised to his second win in seven starts. Martinez allowed Ben Gamel's RBI single in the second, scoring Alex Bregman. Martinez was charged with four runs -- one earned -- on six hits, striking out seven and walking three over 5 2/3 innings.

Despite entering the game with a 12-3 lead with two outs in the sixth, Brent Suter finished the final 3 1/3 innings for just his second career save in 13 opportunities and first since 2021 with the Milwaukee Brewers.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Houston   Cincinnati
Spencer Arrighetti Player Nick Martinez
Loss W/L Win
0.2 IP 5.2
0 Strikeouts 7
5 Hits 6
40.50 ERA 1.59
Hitting
Houston   Cincinnati
Chas McCormick Player Elly De La Cruz
2 Hits 3
1 RBI 2
0 HR 0
2 TB 5
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Houston 9 1 14 .250 18 13 5 3 0 3
Cincinnati 13 1 20 .342 19 7 10 5 3 1