So far this season, the Astros have shown they can win when the pitching is strong, and Friday night was another example of that. Mike Burrows had the best start of his career in Cincinnati. Not only was it the best of his career, but also the longest. Burrows had never thrown a pitch in the seventh inning as a starter, and Friday night he completed seven innings.
Mike Burrows picked up his second win of the season last night, improving to 2-4 after one of his strongest outings of the year. The right-hander threw a season-high seven innings, allowing no runs on just three hits while striking out six and issuing only one walk. One of the biggest moments came in the fourth inning when Burrows worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam to keep the game scoreless. It was his second straight quality start and lowered his ERA to 5.04 through 44.2 innings this seasonper MLB.
No issues on the mound and no issues at the plate. Zack Dezenzo stepped up to the plate for the first time in 2026 and hit a two-run homer to put the Astros on the board 2-0. An excellent first plate appearance for Dezenzo.
The game continued with low numbers on the board, but then things started to spiral for Cincinnati. In the fourth, Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run homer, doubling the Astros' lead to 4-0. Alvarez now has 13 home runs for the 2026 season as he continues to work his way back up the list of league leaders in home runs. He sits behind Aaron Judge and Munetaka Murakami, both with 15.
The home runs didn’t end with Alvarez. Not only were the Astros getting on base, but they were following it up with home runs. Zack Cole hit his second home run of the season, a three-run shot for the 25-year-old, making it 7-0 as Houston continued to pull away.
Then, for the first time this season, the Astros had back-to-back homers. Right after Cole drove in three runs, Christian Vázquez stepped up to the plate with a solo home run, his third of the season.
Jose Altuve and Nick Allen were the only Astros to drive in runs with a base hit instead of a home run Friday night. The Astros completed the first game of the series with a 10-0 win. A dominant start to the road series.