HOUSTON – The way this road trip has looked so far for the Cincinnati Reds, manager Terry Francona was right to sweat when an 11-run lead was quickly knocked down to four after the Astros batted around against two of his pitchers in the third inning Saturday night.

Elly De La Cruz hit a three-run homer in Cincinnati’s 10-run first inning as the Reds pounced on Lance McCullers early and held on for a 13-9 win over the Houston Astros.

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,