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(Sports Network) - Justin Masterson has enjoyed nothing but success during his brief tenure in the major leagues. The rookie pitcher will attempt to keep his remarkable run going when he leads the Boston Red Sox into Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park for tonight's opener of a three-game interleague series with the Cincinnati Reds.

Masterson is 3-0 with an excellent 2.59 earned run average through his first four big league starts and has limited opposing hitters to a .169 batting average with the Red Sox. The right-handed prospect has also thrown at least six innings in all four starts and allowed one run or less in three of those outings.

After making a pair of emergency starts during the season's first two months, Masterson was called back up from the minors in early June to replace the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka in the Boston rotation. The youngster permitted four runs over six innings to pick up the win in the Red Sox' 7-4 triumph over American League East rival Tampa Bay on June 3, then followed up by holding Seattle to one run and three hits through six frames in last Sundays 2-1 decision over the Mariners.

Masterson will be facing a new challenge this evening, however, since all four of his starts with Boston have taken place in the comfortable surroundings of Fenway Park.

The Red Sox head to Cincinnati after another successful homestand that culminated with Thursday's 9-2 victory over Baltimore. Mike Lowell belted a fifth-inning grand slam to help back a strong start from Jon Lester as Boston cruised to its 17th win in its last 19 games at Fenway.

Lester (5-3), who scattered seven hits and two runs over seven innings, got further offensive support via two-run homers by both Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew.

The Red Sox completed their nine-game residency with a 7-2 record and are a stellar 28-7 at Fenway Park this season. Boston hasn't had quite the same success on the road, however, as the defending world champions have lost 10 of their last 14 away tests and are just 14-20 as the visitor.

Cincinnati, on the other hand, comes in having won 13 of its 16 most recent contests at Great American Ball Park, although the Reds did drop the first two tilts of their current nine-game homestand to St. Louis before rebounding for a 6-2 win over the Cardinals on Thursday.

The Reds snapped a 2-2 deadlock with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, highlighted by Brandon Phillips' three-RBI double. Ken Griffey Jr. drove in the go-ahead run when he drew a bases-loaded walk against Cards reliever Randy Flores.

Jared Burton (3-1) threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the win for Cincinnati. Reds starter Bronson Arroyo shut St. Louis out over the first six frames and helped his cause with two hits, including a solo homer, at the plate.

The Red Sox will take their swings tonight against the struggling Aaron Harang, whose rough stretch continued with a forgettable performance in Cincinnati's 9-2 loss at Florida on Sunday. The normally reliable righty was tagged for eight runs (7 earned) and 11 hits over 5 1/3 innings against the Marlins to suffer his fourth consecutive losing start.

Harang, a 16-game winner for the Reds in each of the previous two seasons, has amassed a horrid 9.15 ERA over his four most recent starts and failed to pitch six innings on three of those occasions. He enters tonight's matchup having lost eight of his last nine decisions and hasn't notched a win since May 12.

This will be Harang's third career start against Boston and first since June 15, 2005, when he gave up five runs over 4 2/3 innings in a loss at Fenway Park. The 30-year-old did defeat the Red Sox with 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball during his rookie campaign of 2002, when he was a member of the Oakland Athletics.

The lone regular-season series between these clubs took place at Fenway Park from June 13-15, 2005. The Red Sox won all three games from Cincinnati and outscored the Reds by a 23-4 margin.

Boston's last visit to Cincinnati came during Game 5 of the 1975 World Series, won by the Reds in seven games.