Reds 6, Astros 1: Zack Cozart homered and drove in four runs while Johnny Cueto returned from a long injury layoff with his first victory since June 16 as visiting Cincinnati cruised past Houston.

Jay Bruce scored twice and added a two-run single in support of Cueto (5-2), who yielded five hits and struck out five over five scoreless frames after being sidelined for 2 1/2 months due to a lat strain. The win allowed the Reds to move within 2 1/2 games of National League Central-leading St. Louis and Pittsburgh while stretching their advantage to five games over Washington for the second wild-card spot.

Erik Bedard (4-11) gave up four runs and four hits over four innings – including both Cozart run-scoring hits – in his first start against the Reds. Trevor Crowe doubled and scored for league-worst Houston.

Cincinnati wasted little time backing its 19-game winner from a season ago, getting a single from Bruce to lead off the second before Cozart drove a 3-1 changeup into the left-field seats. Cozart added his second two-out hit in his next at-bat, ripping a two-run single to right.

The Reds tacked on two more runs in the fifth as reliever Lucas Harrell sandwiched a pair of walks around a single to Brandon Phillips and Bruce singled up the middle to stretch the margin to 6-0. Crowe doubled off Alfredo Simon and scored on Matt Dominguez’s RBI groundout to put Houston on the board in the sixth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Monday marked the first meeting of the season between the Astros and Reds, who were NL West rivals from 1969-1993 and NL Central foes from 1994-2012 before Houston left for the American League in the offseason. … Bruce went 2-for-4 and is batting .307 in 72 career games against the Astros. … Houston (51-99) is one defeat away from becoming the first team since the 2004-06 Kansas City Royals to lose 100 games in three consecutive seasons.