HOUSTON (Interstat) — Kyle Tucker homered and drove in two runs against his former team to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-3 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night.

Tucker’s home run came in a four-run third inning that broke open a close game, pushing the lead to 7-2. He is in his first season with the Dodgers after spending last year with the Cubs following seven seasons in Houston.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six strong innings and Alex Freeland homered and tied a career high with three hits to help the Dodgers to their second straight win following a four-game skid.

Yamamoto, who allowed five hits and three runs with eight strikeouts, earned his first win since April 7. The Dodgers improved to 22-13, while the Astros fell to 14-22.

The game drew a crowd of 35,126 at Daikin Park and lasted 2 hours, 46 minutes.

The Dodgers struck first in the top of the first inning. After Shohei Ohtani grounded out and Freddie Freeman struck out, Will Smith singled. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a single, and Tucker then delivered a soft fly-ball single to shortstop Carlos Correa that scored Smith, putting Los Angeles ahead 1-0. Max Muncy walked to load the bases, but Andy Pages struck out to end the inning.

The Astros answered in the bottom of the first. Correa grounded out to start the frame, then Yordan Alvarez singled. Isaac Paredes walked, and Christian Walker struck out. Jose Altuve singled to right, scoring Alvarez to tie the game at 1-1, and after a flyout by Brice Matthews, Houston led 2-1.

The Dodgers regained the lead in the second. Hyeseong Kim grounded out, but Freeland stepped in and crushed a home run to left-center field, his second of the season, tying the game 2-2. Ohtani walked, and after Freeman struck out on a foul tip, Smith doubled sharply to left, driving in Ohtani to make it 3-2. Hernandez flew out to end the inning.

Yamamoto settled in, retiring the Astros in order in the second on a strikeout, a flyout and a groundout.

The big inning came in the third. Tucker led off with a home run to right-center, his fourth of the season, extending the lead to 4-2. Muncy flew out, then Pages singled and Kim singled, putting runners on first and second. Freeland walked to load the bases. Ohtani grounded into a forceout at second, scoring Pages to make it 5-2. Freeman then lined a single to center that was misplayed by right fielder Cam Smith, allowing Kim and Ohtani to score, giving the Dodgers a 7-2 lead. Smith struck out to end the inning.

The Astros threatened in the bottom of the third when Alvarez singled, but Paredes grounded into a double play to end the inning.

After a quiet fourth inning for both sides, the Dodgers added a run in the fifth. Kim flew out, then Freeland singled. Ohtani walked, and Freeman singled sharply to center, scoring Freeland to push the lead to 8-2. Smith and Hernandez could not add more.

The Astros answered in the bottom of the fifth. Cam Smith flew out, but Zach Cole homered to right, his first of the season, cutting the deficit to 8-3. Christian Vazquez struck out, and Correa struck out to end the inning.

Yamamoto’s day ended after six innings. He allowed three runs on five hits, walked two and struck out eight, throwing 96 pitches.

Blake Treinen pitched a perfect seventh inning, striking out all three batters he faced. Jack Dreyer worked the eighth, allowing a hit but striking out two. Kyle Hurt closed the ninth, allowing a hit and striking out two to preserve the win.

For the Astros, reliever Kai-Wei Teng threw two hitless innings with two strikeouts, and Bennett Sousa added a scoreless inning. Bryan Abreu struck out three in a hitless eighth.

The Dodgers outhit the Astros 13-6, with Smith collecting three hits and two doubles. Freeland also had three hits, including a home run. Tucker finished with two hits and two RBIs.

The loss went to Astros starter Ryan Weiss, who fell to 0-3 on the season. Weiss allowed eight runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings, walking three and striking out five.

The win was Yamamoto’s third against two losses. He snapped a personal streak of two consecutive losses, having allowed three runs in each of his previous two outings.

The Dodgers continue their three-game series in Houston on Tuesday night. Freddy Peralta is scheduled to start for Los Angeles against Astros right-hander Luis Garcia.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Houston Astros 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Dodgers a 63.9 percent probability to win. Los Angeles was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 11 went under the over-under line of 9.