The curveball arced for a called third strike. Matt McLain craned his neck in disbelief. Ronel Blanco came off the mound with a hop-step and a pump of his fist, punctuation on another clean inning. It distilled Sunday afternoon at Daikin Park into a deft sequence.

Each team batted around once as the Cincinnati Reds sweated out a high-scoring win that prevented a record blown lead.

Houston Astros infielder/outfielder Jose Altuve was not in Sunday's starting lineup against the Cincinnati Reds because of right hamstring tightness. Altuve departed Saturday's game against the Reds because of the injury,