Cincinnati at Houston

Houston remains hopeful of securing a wildcard berth and has crept to within three games in the loss column of the once again faltering Mets. The ‘Stros have made a leap forward into the wildcard race by going 35-17 over their last 52 games. Wandy Rodriguez has allowed just one run in his last three starts, good for an ERA of 0.66 and is a hot pitcher right now. He has also allowed just three runs in his last two starts against the Reds covering 13.2 innings of work. Edinson Volquez has had a breakout season for the Reds, but his best work came prior to June 20, where he pitched to a 1.71 ERA with 110 k's in just 95 innings. Since then he has pitched to a 4.93 ERA, and the innings have taken their toll. So the overall numbers hold this line down, but his last half-season dictate otherwise, value on the Astros here.