Balls were bouncing off walls, off hitters and over and off gloves (for the game-winner, and an Astros' home run, respectively) in a strange and unsatisfying way for the Reds, who lost 6-4 Monday night at Cinergy Field.

Lance Berkman scores the last run on Moises Alou's three-run double. (Jeff Swinger photos) | ZOOM |

        Of such crazy bounces are losing streaks made.

        And the Reds are in the midst of a miserable one: fifth in the last six games, 11th in their last 14. At Cinergy Field, it was their 13th loss in 19 games, the worst home record in the National League.

        “It's frustrating, but it's baseball — what are we gonna do, quit?” asked Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, who started the game despite a sore right groin. He said it didn't inhibit him nearly as much as the Astros pitching, which he described as nasty.

        “I'd been doing all right up until this point — I just had a bad day (0-for-4),” said Larkin, who is hitting .294 but has only three hits in his last 27 at-bats (.111). When the slump started, he was hitting .354.

Dmitri Young salutes the dugout after a double. | ZOOM |

        Reds manager Bob Boone said he thought this was the “first night” the tight wrapping around Larkin's groin had “affected his swing.”

        Only a prolonged rest would help Larkin, but the Reds can ill afford it. Larkin, even on one leg, is their best leadoff hitter.

        For six innings, the Reds had it going their way, rallying from a deficit (1-0) and a tie (3-3), getting a gutty outing from starter Chris Reitsma (2-3), who didn't appear to have his best stuff, but battled.

        In the seventh, he ran out of something.

        Nursing a 4-3 lead with one out, Reitsma walked Craig Biggio on some tough pitches, gave up a tracer of a single to left by Jeff Bagwell, and then walked Lance Berkman to load the bases.

        On the next confrontation would the game's outcome depend.

Brad Ausmas flair drops between Donnie Sadler and Ruben Rivera. | ZOOM |

        Reitsma twisted off a curveball to Moises Alou to try to get a double-play ball, but Alou smashed a hard bouncer over the glove of the diving, backhanded Reds third baseman Juan Castro and into the left-field corner. It cleared the bases, but not the turbulent stomachs of the Reds brain trust, who are watching a once-promising season turn troubled.

        “It's a fine line between failure and success,” Reitsma said.

        Going into the seventh inning, this appeared to be the game the Reds needed — a relatively lengthy performance by a starting pitcher, to give the weary Reds bullpen a break, and a victory at home to quiet the boobirds.

        Any thought of going to reliever Scott Winchester before Alou came to the plate, Mr. Boone?

        “Yeah, but I wasn't sure what I'd get out of Scott after the long layoff,” Boone said. “I didn't feel Chris was tired there.”

Chris Reitsma checks runner. | ZOOM |

        Entering later, Winchester pitched 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball.

        The Reds overcame Julio Lugo's first-inning homer with a 3-run second inning for a 3-1 lead that began with a Sean Casey leadoff double that smacked high off the Black Monster wall in dead center. Ruben Rivera and Reitsma followed with RBI singles.

        Reitsma couldn't hold the lead (two Astro runs in the fourth to tie the score at 3) but Rivera unknotted it with a homer to right-center in the bottom of the inning.

        “We'll get back on the horse and ride it again tomorrow,” manager Boone said.

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