CINCINNATI (AP) Santiago Espinal's well-placed bloop single drove in two runs in the fifth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros 5-3 on Monday. Ty France had four hits as Cincinnati stopped Houston's five-game win streak. Amed Rosario had two hits and drove Mark Gubicza Jersey in a run. Yainer Diaz had two hits and three RBIs for the Astros in the opener of a three-game interleague series. Verlander (3-5) was charged with five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Houston had a chance in the ninth, but came up empty. With Jason Heyward aboard after a leadoff single, Jose Altuve struck out looking against Emilio Pagn. Justin Wilson then earned his second save when he retired Yordan Alvarez on a liner to center. Carson Spiers (5-5), the third of five Cincinnati pitchers, worked 2 1/3 innings for the win. He was charged with one run and three hits. With Cincinnati's top three starters on the shelf with injuries, manager David Bell has used a creative approach. The bullpen through all of this, it's just unbelievable what they're doing," Bell said. "We understand what's happening, and it means a lot." Verlander walked the bases full in the first inning. TJ Friedl hit a sacrifice fly, and France singled in Elly De La Cruz for a 2-0 lead. I was all over the place in that first inning," Verlander said. "The mechanics, not good. The location needed to be better. I made some decent pitches that werent called but its hard to get pitches when youre all over the place. Diaz responded with a tying two-run single in the third against Julian Aguiar. Cincinnati went ahead to stay with a two-out rally in the fifth. With runners on second and third, Espinals blooper landed in shallow right field. Espinal swiped second and scored on Rosario's single off Kaleb Ort. I felt the last few innings, especially the last couple, were a lot better," Verlander said. In the fifth inning, it was a tough pill to swallow. Cincinnati collected 13 hits, but it went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base. The Reds were coming off an extra-innings win on Sunday that salvaged the finale of their four-game set with NL Central-leading Milwaukee. The Reds had pulled even with the Cardinals for second place in the division after a sweep of St. Louis in mid-August. It's been rough going from there, with Cincinnati dropping 12 of 18 and sliding back down in the standings. WORTH NOTING The Reds recalled outfielder Blake Dunn from Triple-A Louisville and designated first baseman Dominic Smith for a signment. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: INF Alex Bregman mi sed a fifth straight game with elbow inflammation. UP NEXT After a rare day off in the middle of a series, Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (7-11, 4.63 ERA) is the scheduled starter against Reds right-hander Nick Martinez (6-6, 3.78 ERA). Eric Skoglund Jersey