Cincinnati @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( May 11, 2011 ) Cincinnati 3, Houston 4

THE STORY: Cincinnati looks to continue its climb back into the National League Central race when it begins a three-game series at Houston on Monday night. The Reds, currently 6 1/2 games out of first place, are coming off a three-game sweep of NL West leader San Francisco, capped by a 9-0 rout on Sunday. The last-place Astros, meanwhile, lost three straight at division leader Milwaukee.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports (Cincinnati); Fox Sports, Dish445/9515 and DirecTV 678 (Houston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds RH Bronson Arroyo (7-9, 5.58 ERA) vs. Astros RH Bud Norris (5-7, 3.39 ERA).

Arroyo has struggled almost all season, but life has gotten worse for the righthander in July. In five starts this month, Arroyo is 0-3 with a 7.42 ERA and 1.55 WHIP, and he has allowed at least four runs in each of his last six outings. Arroyo is 11-6 with a 4.46 in 26 career games (20 starts) against Houston, with Astros LF Carlos Lee (16-for-47, 5 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBIs) giving him the most trouble.

Norris has just one win since June 8, but that has been largely due to a lack of run support as well as spotty defense behind him – four of the last six runs scored against him have been unearned. He has struggled in two career starts against Cincinnati (0-1, 7.36) and is considerably weaker on the road this year (4.05 ERA vs. 2.93 at home). Current Reds are a combined 7-for-30 (.233) against Norris, who has battled a blister of late but ranks eighth in the National League with 123 strikeouts.

ABOUT THE REDS (53-55): Despite outscoring the Giants by a 20-5 margin over the last three days, Cincinnati went just 11-15 in July, losing 4 1/2 games' worth of ground on the Brewers during that span. Prior to sweeping San Francisco, the Reds had dropped four in a row at home against the New York Mets. Cincinnati has been carried for most of the year by its offense, which ranks second in the National League with 508 runs scored. 1B Joey Votto (.319, 17 HR, 68 RBIs) paces a balanced lineup that features three different players with at least 60 runs batted in.

ABOUT THE ASTROS (35-73): Houston has been in fire-sale mode over the last week in an attempt to shed payroll, dumping two of its top offensive threats in RF Hunter Pence and CF Michael Bourn. One of the players expected to fill the void is OF Jason Bourgeois, who is batting .354 with 22 stolen bases in just 54 games. Bourgeois provided most of the Astros' offense in a 5-4 loss at Milwaukee on Sunday, hitting a three-run homer and scoring on a wild pitch. 2B Jose Altuve is hitting .359 in 11 games since being called up from the minors.

FINAL PITCH: Cincinnati has won six of nine against the Astros this season, outscoring them by a 55-33 margin.