• When: 8:05 p.m. today and Friday; 1:15 p.m. Saturday; 2:35 p.m. Sunday.

        • Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston.

        • TV: Today and Friday, Fox Sports Net; Saturday, Ch. 19.

        • Radio: WLW-AM (700).

        • Records: Reds 46-41, second place in NL Central; Astros 41-45, third in NL Central.

        • The arms:

        Today — RHP Elmer Dessens (5-4, 2.91) vs. RHP Roy Oswalt (9-5, 3.38)

        Friday — RHP Jimmy Haynes (10-6, 4.44) vs. RHP Wade Miller (3-3, 5.86)

        Saturday — RHP Joey Hamilton (3-6, 5.21) vs. RHP Pedro Munro (0-0, 5.68)

        Sunday — RHP Jared Fernandez (0-0, 3.00) vs. RHP Tim Redding (3-4, 5.08).

        • The bats: Those “Killer B's” are still plenty potent against the Reds. Stalwarts Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio had big nights in an 11-4 victory last Wednesday in Cincinnati, and newest “Killer B” Lance Berkman is batting .429 (9-for-21) against the Reds with six homers and 15 RBI. That's in six games. Overall, Berkman leads the NL with 29 homers and 81 RBI.

        • The rest: Houston's pitching has held the team back. The Astros' ERA (4.37) ranks 12th in the National League, six spots behind Cincinnati. Oswalt is the only Astros starter in this four-game series with an ERA under 5.00. These two teams play 11 times in the next 6 1/2 weeks.

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