Coming into Saturday night's game against the Houston Astros, the Cincinnati Reds had scored four or less runs in six consecutive games. On Saturday, the offense exploded for 10 first-inning runs. It was the most runs scored in the first inning by the Reds since April 3,

The numbers do not lie: they are now, once again, a sub-.500 baseball team. And the next club on the docket is the Houston Astros, a club on the tail end of a generational dynasty that has twice won World Series titles since 2017 (and appeared in another pair of World Series, too).