HOUSTON — The Milwaukee Brewers were done in by their mistakes on Tuesday night.
They had miscues on the mound and three in the field, and to top it off they couldn't take advantage of opportunities on offense in a 10-1 loss to the Houston Astros.
Matt Dominguez hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs to back another solid performance by Jordan Lyles and help Houston to the victory.
The Brewers have lost four of their last six games after winning four in a row.
"We made a lot of mistakes," manager Ron Roenicke said. "It troubles me anytime we don't play good defense."
Carlos Pena had a three-run homer and Chris Carter had two hits and drove in a run as the Astros won for the fifth time in six games.
"It's a good ball game until Pena hits the home run," Roenicke said of Pena's fifth inning shot.
The 22-year-old Lyles (4-1) yielded seven hits and one run over seven innings. It was his seventh straight start with two or less earned runs.
The Astros were up by one in the fifth when Pena launched his home run to chase Milwaukee starter Alfredo Figaro and extend the lead to 5-1. Dominguez's first career grand slam was off Tom Gorzelanny and came in Houston's five-run seventh.
"They are mistakes," Roenicke said of the home run pitches. "He's trying to come in on Pena and left it out on the plate for him. He'd pitched him well the time before that. Gorzelanny just wasn't locating his pitches."
Figaro (1-1) was unable to build on his last start when he pitched seven shutout innings in a win over Miami. He allowed five hits and four runs in a season-low 4 1-3 innings.
Figaro said he felt like his command was lacking on Tuesday and he was also feeling lethargic.
"Maybe it was the day off yesterday; I didn't do anything. Maybe that's why," he said. "But you have to compete. It's no excuse to say I didn't have energy; I have to compete and try to do my job."
Roenicke was unhappy with his team's defensive and pitching errors, but he was perhaps most upset by its inability to take advantage of opportunities on offense.
"We have chances and we don't get people in," he said of his team, which went 3 for 8 with runners in scoring position. "And that ball game is a lot different if we drive in the people when we have the opportunities to do it."
Dominguez entered the game in a 0-for-7 slump before using his two hits to drive in five runs and give him 40 RBIs this season to pass Carter for the team lead. He has 10 homers in his last 35 games after not homering in his first 33 games this season.
J. D. Martinez reached on third baseman Yuniesky Betancourt's second error of the game with one out in the seventh. Carter hit an RBI double off Burke Badenhop and he was replaced by Gorzelanny.
Gorzelanny struggled with control from the outset, plunking Pena before walking Justin Maxwell on four pitches to load the bases for Dominguez.
Dominguez gave Houston its first grand slam of the season when he hit a drive into the Crawford Boxes in left field.
Houston's big offensive night got started when Martinez singled to start the second. Dominguez later hit a sacrifice fly.
Juan Francisco started the Milwaukee third with a triple which bounced on Tal's Hill in center field. The Brewers tied it with a single by Scooter Gennett.
Jean Segura and Carlos Gomez hit back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out, but Lyles retired the next two batters to limit the damage.
Maxwell, in his first game back after breaking his left hand on April 23, walked and reached third on a single by Dominguez in the fourth. The Astros took a 2-1 lead when he scored on a bunt by Marwin Gonzalez.
Gomez made an acrobatic catch on the hill in center field to rob Jason Castro of a hit in the seventh inning.
"I got lucky that the ball kept straight on me," Gomez said. "I got a lucky one."
NOTES: Castro celebrated his 26th birthday on Tuesday. ... The series continues on Wednesday when Milwaukee's Kyle Lohse opposes Erik Bedard. ... The Astros traded minor league OF Fernando Martinez to the New York Yankees for minor league RHP Charles Basford.
