HOUSTON (Interstat) — Chase Dollander delivered a dominant bounce-back performance, and the Colorado Rockies manufactured just enough offense to edge the Houston Astros 3-2 on Thursday night at Daikin Park, snapping a three-game skid.

In a game that defied pregame projections favoring the Astros heavily, the Rockies leaned on their rookie right-hander, who stifled a potent Houston lineup after a rocky first inning. Dollander allowed just one hit over 5 1/3 scoreless innings after the first, striking out nine to earn the win and help Colorado salvage the finale of a three-game series.

The most critical juncture of the contest came in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Rockies clinging to a 3-2 lead. Dollander, having retired 13 of 14 batters since the first, issued a one-out walk to Isaac Paredes. Carlos Correa followed with a ground-rule double that caromed past third baseman Kyle Karros, putting runners on second and third with only one out and the heart of the Astros order looming.

Rockies manager Bud Black summoned reliever Jaden Hill from the bullpen to face the daunting task. Hill induced a groundout from Christian Walker, holding the runners, and then struck out Joey Loperfido swinging on a high fastball. With the bases still loaded with danger, Hill fell behind Cam Smith 3-0 before battling back to strike him out on a foul tip, stranding both runners and preserving Colorado’s slim lead. That sequence was the game’s pivotal stand, snuffing out Houston’s best scoring chance after the first inning.

The Astros had struck quickly against Dollander in the first. Jose Altuve led off with a single and scored on Yordan Alvarez’s RBI single. After a hit-by-pitch, Loperfido singled home Alvarez to give Houston an early 2-0 advantage. From that point forward, Dollander was nearly untouchable, mixing a sharp slider with a high-velocity fastball to rack up strikeouts.

Colorado chipped away with single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. In the third, they loaded the bases with no outs but only managed one run on Tyler Freeman’s double-play groundout. Hunter Goodman provided the go-ahead blast in the fourth, launching a solo home run, his fifth of the season, into left-center off Astros starter Ryan Weiss.

The Rockies added an insurance run in the fifth when Brenton Doyle singled, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on Freeman’s RBI single to center. Doyle finished with two hits and two runs scored.

Houston’s bullpen, led by scoreless outings from AJ Blubaugh and Kai-Wei Teng, kept the game close. The Astros threatened again in the seventh against Hill, loading the bases with two outs on an Altuve double and two walks, but Correa lined out to first base to end the inning.

Jimmy Herget worked a scoreless eighth for Colorado, and Victor Vodnik pitched a perfect ninth for his second save, securing the series finale for the visitors.

The loss went to Houston reliever Christian Roa, who allowed the decisive run in the fifth inning. Weiss took a no-decision, surrendering two runs on three hits over 3 2/3 innings.

The game time was 3 hours, 8 minutes, played before a crowd of 27,842. With the win, Colorado improved to 7-12 on the season, while Houston fell to 8-12. The victory was a stark reversal from Dollander’s recent outings, where he had struggled to pitch deep into games, and provided a needed lift for a Rockies team heading home to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. Houston opens a series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.