Burrows breaks through with a gem the Astros saw coming

CINCINNATI -- Through his first seven outings of the season, often it was one inning or one pitch that proved to be the undoing of Astros right-hander Mike Burrows.

On Friday night, it could have been the fourth inning when the Reds loaded the bases with one out. Only this time Burrows worked out of trouble, setting the stage for his strongest start this season.

Burrows pitched seven shutout innings and Yordan Alvarez hit one of four home runs as the Astros handed the Cincinnati Reds their eighth straight loss, 10-0.

Burrows, who has two straight quality starts, allowed three hits with one walk and six strikeouts through a season-high seven innings on 98 pitches.

“I needed one of those,” Burrows said. “It was just good to put one together. I knew after the fourth that I had leverage and it was going to be a good one. It was definitely a relief. Just locking in and making pitches.”

Burrows worked around an Elly De La Cruz double in the first. And the Astros offense woke up against Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo, who was making his season debut after beginning the year on the IL with a blister on his left index finger.

Brice Matthews’ first career triple was followed by Zach Dezenzo’s two-run homer on a 1-2 pitch to put the Astros ahead 2-0 in the second.

“My first two ABs went really well, stuck to my approach,” said Dezenzo, who flied out to the warning track in his second at-bat. “Offensively, a lot of fun today. Guys were putting up good at-bats.”

Dezenzo, a Canton, Ohio, native and Ohio State University product, had friends and family on hand at Great American Ball Park.

Burrows rolled through the first three innings on just 38 pitches, but he ran into trouble in the fourth.

JJ Bleday walked to begin the inning, Sal Stewart singled and Nathaniel Lowe’s pop fly dropped in front of Dezenzo in left field to load the bases with one out. Burrows then retired Spencer Steer on a pop fly and struck out Tyler Stephenson to end the threat.

“They were getting some soft contact, but you have to stay in the fight,” said manager Joe Espada. “You can’t let those little things take away your concentration. He’s done a nice job of that. He’s really close to going on a roll for us.”

Burrows did get on a roll after the fourth inning on Friday, tossing three hitless frames with two strikeouts to finish off his night.

“I just didn’t let things speed up on me, you know, just kept a better control of the game,” Burrows said. “Locked in when I needed to. Made pitches when I needed to. Didn’t let counts spiral.”

Alvarez’s 13th home run of the season, a two-run shot off Lodolo in the sixth, made the score 4-0. At 115.9 mph off the bat, it was tied for fourth hardest-hit homer of the season. Jose Altuve later doubled and scored on a ground ball to make the score 5-0 in the eighth.

The Astros blew the game open in the ninth with a three-run home run by Zach Cole, which was immediately followed by a homer by Christian Vázquez, both off Tony Santillan.

“I’ve been challenging those young players,” Espada said, “I remember what happened last year when our everyday players went down. Just stay within yourself. Don’t try to replace anyone.”

But the night belonged to Burrows, and Espada believes there’s more to come from the 26-year-old.

“He continues to take us deep in the game,” Espada said. “His stuff is too good. He plays well against both righties and lefties. I like the demeanor. His mindset is right. He knows it's just a matter of time.”