Houston Astros Continue Shocking Losing Streak Against Cincinnati Reds

It's been a long time since the Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds.

Houston Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez walks back to the dugout after striking out in the seventh inning. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

A lot has changed since 2016, but one thing has remained the same: the Houston Astros still can't beat the Cincinnati Reds.

The Astros were swept again by the Reds this week -- Cincinnati's third straight sweep of Houston.

The Astros have now lost nine consecutive games to the Reds, including eight straight where they were favored, and haven't beaten them in nearly a decade.

Houston's last win over Cincinnati came on June 19, 2016.

For reference, that was over a month before Alex Bregman made his MLB debut and more than a year before the Astros won their first World Series.

The teams didn't meet again until June 2019, when the Reds swept a three-game series against the Astros at Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati did it again four years later in June 2023, this time in Houston.

The Astros have made the ALCS every season since the last time that they have beaten the Cincinnati Reds

Stay with me now pic.twitter.com/S76iXQABXn

— H-Town Central (@HoustonCentral_) September 5, 2024

This year's interleague series shifted back to Queen City but produced the same result -- three straight Astros losses. The Reds outscored them 18-8, beating them in a normal-scoring game (5-3), a high-scoring game (12-5) and a low-scoring game (1-0).

Despite having a losing record, Cincinnati became the first team to sweep Houston since the Chicago Cubs in late April. The Reds also stymied a red-hot Astros team coming off not only a four-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals, but also a historically dominant August on the mound.

Fortunately for Houston, they doesn't have any more games against Cincinnati this year. They won't meet again until May 9-11, 2025.

In the meantime, the Astros will try to turn the page and bounce back this weekend at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have also been on fire recently.

All-Star lefty Framber Valdez (13-6, 3.11 ERA) will try to get Houston back on track against Brandon Pfaadt (9-7, 4.32 ERA) and the defending NL champs.