TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros (15-23) and Cincinnati Reds (20-18) will play the first game of a three-game series tonight at Great American Ball Park with first pitch scheduled for 5:10 p.m. CT.
RHP Mike Burrows (1-4, 5.97 ERA), who earned his first quality start of the season in his last start will be on the mound for the Astros tonight, opposite LHP Nick Lodolo (Season Debut), who is making his first start of the season and the Reds.
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TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP Mike Burrows was acquired from the Pirates this offseason as part of a three-team, six-player trade in which the Astros sent OF Jacob Melton and minor leaguer RHP Anderson Brito to the Rays, while the Rays sent IF Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum and LHP Mason Montgomery to the Pirates.
In his last start on May 1 vs. Boston, he allowed three runs on eight hits with one walk and three strikeout in six innings. It marked his first quality of the season.
VS. THE REDS: The Astros have faced the Reds 857 times in their history, their most games played against any other Major League franchise, going 403-453-1 in the all-time series.
The Astros went 2-1 against the Reds in 2025 at Daikin Park. Houston is looking for their first win in Cincinnati since a 5-1 victory at Great American Ball Park on Sept. 9, 2012.
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TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES: The Astros have selected RHP Logan VanWey (#64) to the Major League roster.
RHP Jason Alexander was optioned to Triple A Sugar Land following Wednesday’s game.
OF Dustin Harris was outrighted to Triple A Sugar Land and subsequently elected free agency. Harris was designated for assignment on Tuesday, May 5.
JOHNSON RE-SIGNED: The Astros have re-signed OF Daniel Johnson to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple A Sugar Land.
Johnson appeared in eight games with the Astros this season before being designated for assignment on Monday, May 4.
LEAD OFF MAN: 2B Brice Matthews went 1×4 with his first career leadoff home run on Wednesday vs. Los Angeles (NL).
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It was also the first leadoff home run by an Astros player this season, the last one was by SS Jeremy Peña on Aug. 13, 2025 vs. BOS.
It was also Matthews’ second career game batting first in the order.
Matthews has also reached base safely in a career-high eight consecutive starts, batting .323 (10×31) with five runs, one double, three home runs, eight RBI and a 1.017 OPS.
THE ORDER: The Astros have used 38 different batting orders in their 38 games so far this season. Only LF Yordan Alvarez has started every game in the same spot in the lineup (second).
WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: Christian Walker is hitting .379 (22×58) in his last 15 games (since April 20) with five homers and 11 RBI.
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For the season, Walker ranks fifth in the AL in SLG (.569), tied for sixth in RBI (27) and sixth in OPS (.950).
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: With 238 career homers as a second baseman, Jose Altuve needs one more to tie Lou Whitaker for seventh place all-time in MLB history among second basemen.
Altuve also needs two RBI to become the fifth player in franchise history to reach 900.
HIT PAREDES: IF Isaac Paredes has hit safely in 13 of his last 16 games dating back to April 19, a span in which he’s hitting .345 (20×58) with two doubles, three homers, nine RBI and a .950 OPS.
He’s reached base safely in 11 straight games, posting a .444 OBP in that span.
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ROAD WARRIOR: In 14 road games (11 starts) this season, IF/OF Brice Matthews is batting .317 (13×41) with six runs, three doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI, seven walks and a .945 OPS. in his young career, Matthews is hitting .292 (19×65) with six home runs, 20 RBI and a .997 OPS.
HARD TO HIT: Opponents are just 15×82 (.183) vs. RHP Kai-Wei Teng, who is just the second Taiwanese-born player to appear with the Astros in their history.
Among AL relievers, Teng ranks tied for fourth in innings (20.0), seventh in opponent batting average (.183) and 10th in WHIP (0.85).
TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 2004 – In a 5-4 loss at Atlanta, future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio has a memorable night. First, he leads off the game with a single for his 2,500th career hit. He later adds 2 solo HR in the game, ending up 3-for-5 with 2 RBI.
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Game Info
Game Date/Time: Friday, May 8, 5:10 p.m. CT
Location: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
TV: Space City Home Network
Streaming: SCHN+
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
