Baker prepares for first meeting with Astros

HOUSTON -- The Astros might be the owners of baseball's worst record, but Reds manager Dusty Baker was busy cramming. With binders of scouting reports on his desk Monday afternoon, Baker was learning about his opponent. Then there was the added wrinkle that Houston, a former National League Central rival the Reds once met for 15-18 games per season, is now in its first season as an American League club.

"I have a lot of work to do on these Astros," Baker said. "We haven't seen them. We don't know them. They have a whole different team than they had before. September is a lot of work, but against these guys, we haven't been here since last September. I've been coming here for 43 years. This is weird for me."

The Reds were 10-5 in last year's season series with the NL version of the Astros, and 41-20 over the past four seasons.