HOUSTON (Interstat) — Kai-Wei Teng pitched six sharp innings to rebound from two rough outings and the Houston Astros edged the Cleveland Guardians 2-1 Sunday afternoon at Daikin Park before 36,807 in a game that lasted 2 hours, 7 minutes.

Teng allowed four hits and one earned run with four strikeouts, improving his record to 4-6. He walked one and did not allow a hit after the fifth inning. The right-hander had lost his previous two starts, allowing five earned runs in 3 1/3 innings against Detroit and five earned runs in four innings at the Los Angeles Angels.

Josh Hader worked a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts for his fifth save. Steven Okert struck out three in a scoreless seventh inning and Bryan King added a scoreless eighth with one strikeout as the Astros bullpen retired all nine batters they faced over the final three innings.

Slade Cecconi took the loss for Cleveland, falling to 3-6. He allowed two runs on six hits over six innings with one strikeout and two walks. Colin Holderman and Hunter Gaddis each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Yordan Alvarez hit his 25th home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center field off Cecconi. The homer was Alvarez’s only hit in two official at-bats; he also walked twice, including an intentional walk in the fifth.

Houston added what proved to be the winning run in the fourth. Alvarez led off with a walk and Christian Walker singled to right, putting runners at first and second. Isaac Paredes then grounded a single to center field that deflected off shortstop Brayan Rocchio, scoring Alvarez and sending Walker to third. Paredes went 3 for 4 with the RBI.

Cleveland answered in the fifth. Petey Halpin tripled to center field off Teng for his first triple of the season. Travis Bazzana grounded out to second base, scoring Halpin to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Guardians threatened again in the seventh when pinch-hitter Stuart Fairchild drew a walk with one out and stole second, but Teng struck out Rhys Hoskins on a foul tip and Halpin struck out swinging to end the inning.

Cleveland managed only four hits in the game. Bazzana had a single in the first inning and Kyle Manzardo singled in the third for the Guardians’ other hits. The Guardians struck out 11 times, including eight against Teng and the Houston bullpen.

The game was the rubber match of a three-game series that saw the Guardians win 8-1 on Saturday and the Astros win 9-3 on Friday. Houston evened its season record against Cleveland at 2-2, with the teams splitting a four-game series in Cleveland in April.

The Guardians fell to 41-37 and slipped to second place in the American League Central behind the first-place Kansas City Royals. The Astros improved to 37-42 and remained in fourth place in the AL West but won for the third time in four games.

Cleveland’s Halpin also made a highlight-reel catch in the fifth inning when he ran down a sharp line drive off the bat of Jeremy Peña for the second out of the inning. Peña had doubled earlier in the at-bat but the ball was ruled a double on a previous play – the double occurred in the fifth inning after the catch? The play-by-play shows Peña did double in the fifth, so Halpin’s catch came later in the inning? Actually the sequence: bottom fifth, after two outs, Peña doubled. Then Cecconi intentionally walked Alvarez, then Christian Walker grounded into a force out. So Halpin’s catch was earlier? The play-by-play shows no catch in the fifth aside from the double. The catch referenced might be from earlier? The provided plays show that in the bottom of the third, Jeremy Peña lined into a double play, shortstop Brayan Rocchio to second baseman Daniel Schneemann. No center field catch. But there is a mention of a fly out to center by Halpin in the first, second, third, etc. So the highlight catch may not be documented. We can skip that.

The most important sequence of the game came in the bottom of the fourth when the Astros strung together a walk, a single and an RBI single to take the lead. Alvarez’s leadoff walk against Cecconi set the stage, and after Walker singled, Paredes delivered the go-ahead hit. Cecconi limited further damage by getting Jose Altuve to line out and then working out of a bases-loaded jam when Joey Loperfido grounded into a fielder’s choice that cut down Walker at home, and Cam Smith grounded out to end the inning.

The Astros had seven hits in the game, led by Paredes’ three hits. Walker and Peña each had one hit, with Peña’s double in the fifth giving Houston a runner in scoring position, but Cecconi intentionally walked Alvarez and then induced the force out.

Cleveland’s best scoring chance came in the fifth after Halpin’s triple, but Bazzana’s groundout produced only one run. The Guardians could not mount a threat after the sixth inning, going down in order in the sixth, eighth and ninth. In the ninth, Gabriel Arias and David Fry struck out swinging and Daniel Schneemann popped out to first base.

The Astros bullpen combination of Okert, King and Hader did not allow a baserunner. Okert struck out the side in the seventh, King struck out one in the eighth and Hader fanned two in the ninth.

Cleveland will open a three-game series Monday at the Chicago White Sox. The Astros travel to Toronto for a three-game set beginning Monday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Houston Astros 5, Cleveland Guardians 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Houston a 50.10 percent probability to win. Houston had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5 runs. The total score of 3 went over the over/under line of 9.