HOUSTON (Interstat) — Jeremy Peña’s grand slam in the second inning turned a one-run deficit into a five-run lead, and the Houston Astros held off the Miami Marlins 8-5 on Monday night at Daikin Park.

The Astros snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 48-54, while the Marlins dropped their fourth consecutive game to fall to 52-49.

Peña finished 1-for-4 with the grand slam and four RBIs. His seventh home run of the season came with two outs in the bottom of the second inning, after the Marlins had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the frame on a two-run homer by catcher Joe Mack.

Yordan Alvarez added two solo home runs for Houston, one in the second inning and another in the fifth, giving the Astros a 7-4 lead at that point. Alvarez’s 32nd homer of the season put Houston up 6-2 after Peña’s slam, and his 33rd made it 7-4 in the fifth.

Miami had cut the deficit to 6-4 in the top of the fourth when catcher Liam Hicks hit a two-run homer, his 14th, scoring Xavier Edwards who had walked.

The Marlins managed nine hits in the game but struck out 15 times as a team. Houston’s pitching staff, led by starter Ronel Blanco, fanned 14 Miami batters over the nine innings.

Blanco allowed four earned runs on two hits — both solo and two-run homers — over 4 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out eight but did not factor in the decision.

Enyel De Los Santos (1-3) earned the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out two. Bryan Abreu pitched a perfect seventh inning with one hit allowed and two strikeouts. Steven Okert tossed a scoreless sixth with two hits and two strikeouts. Josh Hader gave up a run on three hits in the ninth but closed out the game.

Janson Junk (4-6) took the loss for Miami, allowing seven runs on six hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Houston’s second-inning outburst began after a walk to LaMonte Wade Jr. and a single by Yainer Diaz. Taylor Trammell singled to right field to score Wade, cutting Miami’s lead to 2-1. After a forceout, a walk to Lucas Spence loaded the bases. Peña then launched a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall to clear the bases and put Houston ahead 5-2. Alvarez followed with his first homer to right-center, making it 6-2.

In the fifth, Alvarez struck again with a solo shot to right-center off Junk, stretching the lead to 7-4. The Astros added an insurance run in the seventh when Isaac Paredes tripled to center and scored on a single by Jose Altuve.

Miami mounted a rally in the ninth. Javier Sanoja singled, Kyle Stowers singled, and Heriberto Hernández singled to left to score Sanoja, cutting the deficit to 8-5. With runners on first and second, Xavier Edwards lined out to left and Liam Hicks flied out to shortstop to end the game.

Houston’s bullpen combined for 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out seven. The Astros defense turned a double play in the second inning to end the frame.

Miami left seven runners on base and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Marlins scored all five of their runs via the long ball — Mack’s two-run homer in the second and Hicks’ two-run homer in the fourth, plus a single run in the ninth.

Attendance was announced at 23,684, and the game lasted 2 hours, 49 minutes.

The two teams will meet again Tuesday and Wednesday at Daikin Park to complete the series. Miami, which entered the game on a three-game losing streak, now heads home after the series to face San Diego. Houston, having lost three straight to Baltimore, will host the Marlins before traveling to Chicago to face the White Sox.

In the top of the seventh, after singles by Leo Jiménez and Sanoja put runners on first and second with no outs, a challenge on a pitch to Kyle Stowers resulted in an overturn and a called third strike. Hernández then struck out swinging to end the threat.

Jose Altuve went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Taylor Trammell was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Yainer Diaz singled in the second and finished 1-for-4. Lucas Spence went 0-for-3 with a walk.

Miami’s Joe Mack homered and drove in two. Liam Hicks homered and drove in two. Heriberto Hernández had two hits and an RBI. Javier Sanoja had two hits and scored a run. Xavier Edwards walked twice and scored a run.

For Houston, Peña’s grand slam was the decisive blow, and the Astros never trailed after the second inning.

The game’s most important sequence came in the bottom of the second when, after a walk and two singles, Peña cleared the bases with his grand slam. That six-run frame erased Miami’s early lead and gave Houston a lead it would not relinquish.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Miami Marlins 5, Houston Astros 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Houston with a 51.00 percent probability to win. Houston had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 13 went under the over-under line of 9.