Baseball fortunes can shift in the blink of an eye—just ask the Cincinnati Reds, who experienced a dramatic turnaround over the first 10 days of May.
On the evening of Saturday, May 9, the Reds were stuck in an eight-game losing streak and trailing the Houston Astros in the fifth inning. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, and Cincinnati had not only snapped the skid but claimed the series with a commanding 3-0 shutout victory at Great American Ball Park.
The hero of the day was left-hander Andrew Abbott, who delivered a masterful performance. Over six innings, he held the Astros to just three hits while extending his personal scoreless streak to an impressive 17 2/3 innings. Abbott hasn't allowed a run since April 30 against the Colorado Rockies. He struck out five batters, including Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez three times—a feat that had the home crowd buzzing.
The Reds' offense got rolling in the third inning against Astros starter Kai-Wei Teng. In a dazzling sequence of consecutive at-bats, Elly De La Cruz singled, Sal Stewart doubled, JJ Bleday tripled, and Tyler Stephenson singled, pushing the lead to 3-0. Bleday's triple made it 2-0, and Stephenson's knock added another run. In the fifth, Matt McLain drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in a run and extend the lead to 4-0. McLain was a force all series, including a game-winning two-run single the night before.
De La Cruz continued his hot streak, going 3-for-4 with three singles and two runs scored. His batting average climbed to .290, with an .881 OPS that has Reds fans dreaming of big things. Spencer Steer added a solo home run in the sixth inning—his seventh of 2026—to cap the scoring at 5-0.
In just 24 hours, the Reds went from a team searching for answers to one riding the momentum of a series win. Their record now stands at 22-19, a solid position for early May. But the road ahead isn't without challenges: the team announced that Rhett Lowder, another member of the Opening Day rotation, is set to join the injured list. Still, for a ballclub that rediscovered its winning formula, the future looks bright.