It's dry under the roof

Good afternoon from soggy Houston, where it’s been raining cats and dogs all day. Severe thunderstorm warnings are abound and as I’ve seen here in the past, the drainage stinks and roads and sidewalks are flooding a little.

Thankfully the game shouldn’t be affected one iota under the roof here at Minute Maid Park.

Reds lineup:

Taveras, cf
Hairston, lf
Votto, 1b
Phillips, 2b
Encarnacion, 3b
Bruce, rf Nix rf
Hernandez, c
Gonzalez, ss
Harang, rhp

Jay Bruce was scratched two hours before game time because of a sore right hand. He was hit on the hand by Yovani Gallardo on Monday at Milwaukee and it’s still swollen. Bruce went for X-rays and we’re awaiting word. Apparently he might have tweaked the hand on a check swing last night. He told the Reds he had been pain free the prior three days.

Here is a note regarding Friday night’s game, courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau:

The Reds trailed the Astros, 1-0, going into the top of the ninth inning but Ramon Hernandez hit a two-run homer that gave Cincinnati a 2-1 victory.  It was the third time in the last 21 seasons that the Reds won a game in the ninth inning after trailing and being shut out at the end of the eighth inning, and all three were played in Houston.  The others were in April 1989 and May 1993.