Setting Comments Link Hover to Transparent

I'm attempting to change the hover color of the comments link to transparent.  When using Chromes inspect element tool I can tell that if I remove .entry-header .comments-link a:hover {background-color: that it will give me the desired effect.  However, I was looking for a solution without having to create a child theme. I attempted to write .entry-header .comments-link a:hover { background-color: transparent; } But I did not get the desired effect.