The Cincinnati Reds’ Homer Bailey Beats the Houston Astros for the Fourth Time This Season

Homer Bailey shut Houston down again and came up with a career-high three hits and Devin Mesoraco homered to help the Cincinnati Reds snap a four-game losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Astros on Tuesday night.

"My No. 1 priority for next year is to stay healthy," said Bailey to MLB.com, who is 9-7 with a 4.32 ERA this season. "I know some of the injuries I've gone through probably couldn't have been helped. Nonetheless, they happened. "If you look at how many wins-per-start I've had the last couple of years, if you get a full season in there, they're always right around 15. That's what really upsets me the most. If I could go out there, get the 30-35 starts, get the numbers, I'll be right around to 14, 16-17 wins a year. But these are the cards I've been dealt."

Brandon Phillips also homered while Jay Bruce had three hits and Dave Sappelt and Juan Francisco each added two hits each as the Reds broke out of a slump. Their nine hits through five innings were one more than their total from the previous three games.

Bailey (9-7), who went into the game 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts against the Astros this season, set a career-high in wins while allowing six hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts in seven innings.

Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 34th save.

Astros starter Bud Norris left the game in the third inning with right shoulder discomfort.

Rookie left fielder J.D. Martinez went 3-for-5 and socked his first home run in a month -- a two-run blast in the third inning -- and Chris Johnson came off the bench hit a tape-measure two-run, pinch-hit homer to left field in the eighth that cut the Reds' lead to 5-4.

Information from the Associated Press used in this report