Major League Baseball

Astros reach 100th loss of the season

Published Sep. 18, 2013 1:47 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Houston Astros' night began with an error and an embarrassing play, and ended with their 100th loss.

Jay Bruce hit a grand slam and had five RBIs, Mike Leake pitched eight scoreless innings and the Cincinnati Reds cruised to a 10-0 win over Houston on Tuesday night.

Cincinnati is 4 1/2 games ahead of Washington for second NL wild card.

The Astros are the first major league team to lose at least 100 games in three straight seasons since Kansas City from 2004-06.

''I'm always going to concentrate on the things we need to do to improve,'' Houston manager Bo Porter said when asked about losing 100 games.

''I don't concern myself with what it is people are going to say. I concern myself about the men in that clubhouse and how we're going to get better every day.''

The Reds got to work early, with Zack Cozart driving in two runs in a four-run first inning.

Cincinnati was up by five in the fourth before Bruce's towering slam to the Crawford Boxes in left field pushed the lead to 9-0 and chased Jordan Lyles (7-8).

Leake (14-6) allowed five hits over eight innings and struck out six with two walks.

Sean Marshall, who hadn't pitched since May 20 because of shoulder tendinitis, threw a perfect ninth to complete the shutout.

The Reds tagged Lyles for nine hits and nine runs in 3 1-3 innings.

The Astros, who have the worst record in the majors, fell to 51-100. They were 56-106 in 2011 and dropped to 55-107 last year, their final season in the National League.

With a rookie-filled team and the lowest payroll in the majors, the Astros have had plenty of lopsided games this year. But even in an already dismal year, the night they eclipsed the century mark yet again was particularly ugly.

Things went downhill quickly for the Astros. Lyles had a two-base error when he fielded a high-bouncing grounder hit by Brandon Phillips and badly overthrew first base with one out in the first.

Joey Votto singled before an RBI single by Bruce made it 1-0. Xavier Paul walked to load the bases and Todd Frazier's single pushed the lead to 2-0.

Cozart wrapped up the scoring in that inning with a two-RBI single to make it 4-0.

The bottom of the first didn't go any better for Houston. Jonathan Villar hit a leadoff single, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. But it wasn't just that he was thrown out, but the way he was thrown out that was embarrassing.

Villar slid into second base, but Phillips already had the ball before he began the slide. The always flamboyant Phillips reached backward between his legs to apply the tag as Villar crashed head-first into Phillips' backside.

''That's the way I play,'' Villar said. ''I'm aggressive. I was trying to make something happen, motivate my team. It's hard to change because that's the way I've always played.''

Porter was not happy with Villar's decision-making on the play and spoke with the shortstop about it as soon as he got to the dugout.

''The conversation is not based on the out,'' Porter said. ''The conversation is based on what I want you to understand about when you should be aggressive and how sometimes the decision is made even before you put the ball in play.''

Phillips said he wasn't trying to showboat, and he initially didn't realize that Villar was coming.

''The crowd let me know that he was coming to second base,'' Phillips said. ''I just had to quickly put the tag between my legs. That's the only reason I tagged him. If I didn't hear the crowd, I would have just caught it and looked around and he would have been safe.''

However, he probably could have tagged him in a less showy way.

''That's me,'' he said with a laugh. ''I do things off the wall, yes.''

Cozart added an RBI single in the third to extend Cincinnati's lead to 5-0.

Derrick Robinson walked with no outs in the fourth inning before Shin-Soo Choo drew a walk. A one-out walk by Votto loaded the bases to set up the slam by Bruce, which chased Lyles. It was his 30th homer this season and first grand slam since Sept. 5, 2008.

A sacrifice fly by Cesar Izturis in the seventh put Cincinnati up 10-0.

NOTES: Houston All-Star catcher Jason Castro was placed on the 15-day disabled list with discomfort in his right knee, ending his season on Tuesday. ... The series wraps up on Wednesday when Houston's Brad Peacock opposes Greg Reynolds. ... Votto extended his hitting streak at Minute Maid Park to 23 games, which is the longest by a player in the park's history.