HOUSTON (Interstat) — The Houston Astros defeated the Miami Marlins 8-5 on Monday at Daikin Park before a crowd of 23,684 in a game that lasted 2 hours, 49 minutes.

Houston erupted for six runs in the second inning, taking the lead for good. Jeremy Peña delivered a grand slam, and Yordan Alvarez added two home runs as part of a 3-for-4 night with two RBIs. The Astros improved to 48-54 while the Marlins fell to 52-49.

Miami got solo homers from Joe Mack and Liam Hicks, each driving in two runs, but could not overcome the early deficit. The Marlins out-hit Houston 9-8 but left too many runners stranded.

Enyel De Los Santos earned the win in relief, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Janson Junk took the loss for Miami. Ronel Blanco started for Houston and allowed four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings, striking out eight. Dax Fulton pitched three innings of relief for the Marlins, surrendering one earned run.

Miami pulled within 8-5 in the ninth on an RBI single from Heriberto Hernández, but Houston’s bullpen shut the door.