Roy Oswalt beat the Cincinnati Reds again to keep Houston’s playoff hopes alive for at least one more day.

The Astros ace allowed two hits and struck out three in six innings to lead Houston to an 8-6 victory Thursday night.

Oswalt has won 23 of 24 decisions against Cincinnati and the Astros desperately needed this one.

Houston came into the game trailing New York and Milwaukee by 3 1/2 games in the race for the NL wild card. The Mets beat Chicago 7-6 and the Brewers beat Pittsburgh 5-1 in 10 innings to push the Astros to the brink — one more Houston loss or victory by either the Mets or Brewers will mathematically eliminate them.